CBI court dismisses Swamy's plea
against Chidambaram
New Delhi, Feb 4 A Special CBI court here today dismissed
the plea of Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy against Union Home Minister P Chidambaram in the 2G spectrum allocation scam case.
Special CBI Judge O P Saini at Patiala House Court dismissed the plea of Dr Swamy to make Mr Chidambaram a co-accused in the scam.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court had left it to the lower court to decide Dr Swamy's application. The apex court had refused to direct the CBI to investigate the role of Mr Chidambaram, who was holding finance portfolio then, saying it was for the trial court to decide.
However, Dr Swamy said he was not disappointed after the trial court order and he will approach the High Court.
''I am surprised. But I am not disappointed. It is not a
setback. It is part of the game. I will approach the High Court and if I do not get satisfied there, then I will go to the
Supreme Court,'' Dr Swamy told reporters here.
The Janata Party leader said he had a ''very strong'' case and the evidence against Mr Chidambaram was ''complete''.
Alleging that Mr Chidambaram ''colluded'' with jailed former Telecom Minister A Raja, Dr Swamy said his fight on the issue will continue.
He added that the trial court order deserves to be reversed.
Dr Swamy submitted before the court that Raja alone could not be guilty of fixing the rate of spectrum charges at
nominal prices but he committed the offence in connivance with then Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram.
He submitted that as per 2003 Cabinet decision A Raja and Mr Chidambaram, then Finance Minister were empowered to determine the spectrum prices.
The Judge had granted Dr Swamy permission to become a witness against Mr Chidamabaram after he claimed that he would provide prima-facie evidence against the Minister and could explain the relevancy of his testimony along with relevant documents.
The CBI special judge, at about 1330 hours, rejected the plea of Dr Swamy and listed the matter for further hearing on March 17.
Govt's stand vindicated, says Narayanasamy :
The Government today said its stand on the opposition of Union Home Minster P Chidambaram has been vindicated
by today's judgement of the CBI Special Court rejecting the plea of Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy to make the Home Minister co-accused with A Raja and others in 2G spectrum scam case.
''We feel that our stand has been vindicated,'' Minister of
State in the PMO Narayanasamy said here reacting to the
judgement.
He also hit out at BJP for targeting Mr Chidambaram even
before the court verdict came.
''We do not jump the gun like the BJP,'' he said, adding that one should always wait for the court's verdict before coming to any conclusion.
The JP chief had in his petition argued that Mr Chidambaram was privy to the decisions that Mr Raja took on issues like the pricing of spectrum and the former as a Finance Minister should have prevented him from going ahead with faulty allocation of spectrum.
Today's judgement has come as a great relief for the
Government which was battered by this week's Supreme Court judgement cancelling 122 mobile network licences issued in 2008, on the ground that the method of allotment of spectrum was not fair.
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Cong welcomes 2G trial court verdict
says its stand vindicated
Welcoming the order of the CBI special court hearing the 2G case to dismiss Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy's plea against Home Minister P Chidambaram, the
Congress today said the verdict vindicated their stand that Mr Chidambaram had no role to play in the case.
Talking to reporters here, senior Congress leader and Union Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal said, ''we all along knew that our colleague had no role to play in the case. This was something we always maintained. Our stand has been vindicated.''
Lashing out at BJP for demanding the resignation of Mr
Chidambaram, Mr Sibal said, ''I am very disappointed how some leaders of the Opposition have been blaming us. The opposition parties should go to his (Chidambaram's) home and say sorry.''
------------------------
Dismissal of plea against
Chidambaram a relief : Pranab
Kolkata : Welcoming the special court's dismissal of petition against P Chidambaram in 2G case, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today described it as a relief for the government.
"It is a good judgement. It is a relief for the government. Someone was being unnecessarily prosecuted. I welcome the judgement," Mukherjee told reporters during a visit to the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI).
He pointed out that in its judgement the Supreme Court
also referred that the then finance minister's (Chidambaram) advice was not listened to.
--------------------
Swamy says surprised, will appeal in higher courts
Surprised by the Delhi court's rejection of his plea to make Home Minister P Chidambaram a co-assused in the 2G scam, Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy today said he has a "very very strong case" and will appeal against the order in higher courts.
"I am surprised," Swamy said soon after the special CBI
court dismissed his plea against Chidambaram.
"I will go to another court. This order deserves to be
reserved. I will certainly appeal against it," he told
reporters.
He insisted that he has a "very very strong case" both
against Chidambaram and A Raja, the main accused in the 2G spectrum allocation scam, and that he will challenge the
decision in High Court.
He said the Supreme Court had said earlier that a trial
court's decision could be challenged directly in the apex
court and that he would examine this option as well.
"How can Chidambaram be vindicated by one court unless he is vindicated in all the courts," he said.
"This is nothing new for me. I will go for appeal...This
is not the first time that a petition has been dismissed," he
said, while recalling that his appeals against High Court
decisions in the cases of grant of sanctions and cancellation
of 2G licences had been upheld by the Supreme Court.
---------------------------
Govt's collective functioning will
now be under scanner: CPI
CPI today said it would examine the Delhi court order dismissing a plea to make Home Minister P Chidambaram a co-accused in the 2G scam case, but noted that the recent other court verdicts would have "far-reaching implications" on the government's collective functioning.
The Supreme Court order cancelling 122 2G licenses and
today's order by the lower court would have "far-reaching
implications on the collective functioning of the Cabinet and
individual responsibility of concerned Ministers", CPI
National Secretary D Raja said here.
Noting that these orders could become "precedents" for
the future, he said "ethical and moral questions" could be
raised with respect to the role of Chidambaram, the then
Finance Minister, from documents like the March 25 note of the Finance Ministry which were in the public domain.
The note by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had
suggested that Chidambaram could have prevented the scam by insisting on auction of spectrum
==============
2G verdict relief for government: Khurshid
Terming the trial court's decision to dismiss the petition against P Chidambaram as a "relief" for the government, Law Minister Salman Khurshid today said he was "happy" for the Home Minister as well as the justice delivery system.
"...it is a relief, especially when it is a judgement
coming from a court," he told reporters here.
Khurshid said he was "happy" for Chidambaram as well as
the "system" after the judgement.
He said the judgements are delivered on merit based on
pleas and counter arguments given in a court room.
Asked whether those demanding the resignation of
Chidambaram should apologise to him, the minister refused to comment.
At the same time, he took a dig at the opposition parties
saying that after trial court delivers a verdict, it can always be challenged in a High Court.
The Law Minister termed his Cabinet colleague as an "important" and "significant" member of the UPA government.
========================
BJP to continue to insist on Chidambaram's accountability
The BJP said it will continue to insist on Home Minister P Chidambaram's accountability even after a local court today dismissed Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy's
plea against Mr Chidambaram in the 2G spectrum scam case.
The party had been demanding removal of Mr Chidambaram, who was holding Finance portfolio then, from the Union Cabinet alleging that he was equally responsible in the 2G scam with jailed former Telecom Minister A Raja.
''There are several evidences against Mr Chidambaram. The BJP would continue to raise the matter in and outside Parliament,''
party chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters here.
Mr Prasad said the Supreme Court on Thursday had cancelled 122 2G licences, allocated during the tenure of Raja as Telecom Minister, as there was ''manipulation in the policy'' of first-cum-first-served basis.
He said the apex court had found ''massive irregularities'' in licence allocation.
The BJP has been saying that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ''owes an explanation'' to the nation and he should ''break his silence'' on the matter.
Alleging that the 2G scam was the biggest scam since the
independence, Mr Prasad said the Congress-led UPA government has ''lost its credibility'' and the ''political accountability'' of Mr Chidambaram ''remains alive''.
The BJP leader said the party would wait for the decisions
from the higher courts. Dr Swamy has said he would approach the High Court and the Supreme Court after the Special CBI court dismissed his plea to make Mr Chidambaram as co-accused in the 2G scam case.
========================
Chidambaram supporters celebrate court verdict,
burst crackers
Sivaganga (Tamil Nadu)
Congress workers in Union Home Minister P Chidambaram's native district here today celebrated the Delhi court order rejecting a plea to make him an accused in the 2G case by bursting crackers.
As soon as news about dismissal of Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy's petition against Chidambaram by the special court came in, around 100 party workers led by District Pradesh Congress Committee chief M Rajaratnam burst crackers near the bus stand here.
Similar jubilant scenes were witnessed in Karaikudi town
where former MLA N Sundaram led local partymen in celebrating the court verdict, which came as a huge relief to Chidambaram.
The Congressmen raised slogans hailing the court order and said there was no truth in the charges against Chidambaram, who represents Sivaganga in Lok Sabha.
Party sources said Chidambaram was likely to arrive here
tonight to attend various functions, including a marriage in
the family of Sundaram, in the district tomorrow.
======================
chronology
Following is the of the events in which a Delhi court rejected the plea of Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy to make Home Minister P Chidambaram a co-accused in the 2G case.
Dec 15, 2010: Swamy moves Special CBI court seeking
prosecution of the then Telecom Minister A Raja in 2G scam and his (Swamy's) appointment as public prosecutor.
Jan 7, 2011: Court holds Swamy's complaint against A Raja
"maintainable".
Mar 25, 2011: Swamy's complaint transferred to Special
court set up at the instance of the Supreme Court to try all
cases related to 2G scam.
Aug 23, 2011: Swamy moves SC for CBI probe against Home Minister and the then Finance Minister P Chidambaram in the 2G case.
Aug 26, 2011: Swamy tells Special CBI court that he will
file a plea before it to make Chidambaram a co-accused.
Sept 8, 2011: SC directs Swamy to submit his correspondence with the CBI in connection with his plea to
investigate Chidambaram's alleged role in the 2G scam.
Sept 15, 2011: Swamy tells court he will bring new facts
that Chidambaram and Raja had a role in deciding 2G spectrum prices and entry fee.
Sept 22, 2011: CBI defends Chidambaram in SC, blames
Department of Telecom (DoT).
Oct 10, 2011: SC reserves order on Swamy's plea for a
probe into the alleged role of Chidambaram in the 2G scam.
Jan 7, 2012: Swamy places on record various certified
copies of the documents in support of his private complaint
against Chidambaram.
Jan 21, 2012: Special Court reserves order for February 4.
Feb 2, 2012: SC refuses to ask CBI to probe role of
Chidambaram in 2G case and leaves it to the Special Court to decide the matter.
Feb 4, 2012: Special Court dismisses Swamy's plea to make
Chidambaram a co-accused
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