New Delhi:
The government can exhale. A special CBI court headed by Judge OP Saini has ruled that Home Minister P Chidambaram will not be made a co-accused in the scam. Here are ten big developments:
- Judge Saini has rejected a petition by Subramanian Swamy asking for Mr Chidambaram to be held criminally culpable in the 2G scam, which played out in 2008 when he was Finance Minister. In a one-line verdict, the judge said in a packed court-room, "Prayer of Swamy to make Chidambaram an accused is dismissed.
- Mr Chidambaram was at home when the judgement announced. He then left for the airport for a scheduled trip to Madurai.
- Mr Swamy, who is the Janata Party president, says he will challenge the verdict in the Supreme Court within a month. Mr Swamy earlier said he will appeal in the Delhi High Court. "I am not disappointed, this is part of the game," he said. Perhaps he will have to eventually appeal to God was the wry response of Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal.
- The verdict allows the government to re-claim some credibility which has been in free-fall in recent months on account of a series of financial scandals, of which the telecom scam was the biggest. "The truth can never be hidden," said Mr Sibal. "We knew all along that he was not responsible either directly or indirectly and the allegations against him were politically motivated."
- The judgement weakens the opposition's demand for Mr Chidambaram's resignation. As a form of "boycott", the BJP refused to let the minister speak in Parliament in the winter session, forcing many adjournments of both Houses. The party's Ravi Shankar Prasad said today that the boycott will continue. This strategy was criticized by the BJP's former telecom minister Arun Shourie, and senior leader Jaswant Singh. Both men said that Parliament must be used as a forum for discussion, and that the BJP must use debates to challenge the government.
- Today's verdict comes after the Supreme Court cancelled 122 telecom licenses issued by A Raja in 2008. While ordering that those licenses be re-allocated through an auction of spectrum, the Supreme Court placed the blame firmly on Mr Raja. The two judges said that Mr Raja knew that Finance Ministry officials did not approve of the prices he had fixed, so he deliberately chose not to consult with either Mr Chidambaram or his department. The government has said the cancellation of licenses is based on the Supreme Court's rejection of the policy that was followed, and is not an indictment of any sort on its own performance. The Congress blames the BJP who, it says, introduced telecom policies in 2003 that were inherited by the UPA when it came to power.
- The timing of the telecom verdicts is crucial - five states including all-important Uttar Pradesh are voting now for their government. A verdict against Mr Chidambaram would have hurt the Congress in UP, say analysts, where the party has been highlighting corruption charges against the current chief minister, Mayawati.
- Fathered allegedly by A Raja in 2008, the 2G swindle saw the former telecom minister assigning cellphone network licences at clearance-sale prices, with free second-generation or 2G spectrum thrown in, to companies with whom he conspired. Mr Raja on paper followed a first-come-first-serve policy, which was the accepted norm at the time. But he allegedly twisted the rules to push the companies he favoured to the head of the line.
- Mr Swamy was praised this week by the Supreme Court for pushing the telecom scam to the forefront of the country's agenda. His petition said that it was the Finance Minister's duty to prevent Mr Raja from his spree of nefarious licencing. Like the opposition, Mr Swamy says that Mr Chidambaram was privy to the decisions that Mr Raja took. On matters like the pricing of spectrum, he should have intervened to protect the country's interests, they argue.
- Correct, says Mr Raja, who completed a year in jail this week. He says that he briefed not just the Finance Minister but the Prime Minister on every development as it emerged. He has also said that he would like to summon Mr Chidambaram as a witness in court.