How Manmohan Singh, Congress, DMK and BJP reacted after 2G scam verdict

New Delhi: Hailing the special CBI court judgement in the 2G spectrum scam case, former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Thursday said the verdict proved that the massive propaganda against UPA was without any foundation.“I don’t want to boast. The judgement speaks for itself", Dr Singh told media persons in Parliament.

Premises here soon after the court pronounced the judgement acquitting all accused, saying the prosecution had failed to prove any of its charge.

Dr Singh was heading the government when the allegation of Rs 1.76-lakh-crore loss to the exchequer in 2G allocation had been brought up"The court judgement has to be respected. I'm glad that the court has pronounced unambiguously that the massive propaganda against UPA was without any foundation," the former Prime Minister prime minister said. (UNI)

It's a moral victory for us: Sibal

Describing the special court verdict in the 2G spectrum case as 'a moral victory ' for the Congress, senior party leader and former Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal on Thursday said former Comptroller Auditor General Vinod Rai's presumptive loss theory had been proven wrong.'This is a moral victory for us, our stand has been vindicated.

Vinod Rai's presumptive loss theory has been proven wrong', Mr Sibal, who succeeded A Raja as Telecom Minister, told reporters here after the special CBI court acquitted all accused in the 2G case. 

Reacting to the verdict, Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi said, 'Will BJP now apologise to the nation for stalling Parliament for years, slowing down India's growth story, leveling baseless accusations against the then government for BJP's hunger to be in power at any cost? Shame on their power hungry politics .'

A CBI special court on Thursday acquitted all accused in the 2G spectrum allocation scam case. The case relates to alleged low-market auction of airwaves of 2G spectrum to telecom companies in 2008. Former CAG Vinod Rai, in its audit, alleged that the low-rate allocation have cost a loss of 28 billion dollars to the government exchequer. (UNI)

DMK celebrates, Stalin hails as historic, TN leaders welcome it

Chennai: It was celebration time for the principal Opposition DMK in Tamil Nadu after the Special CBI court inNew Delhi acquitted all the accused, including former Union

Telecom Minister A Raja and Rajya Sabha MP Ms Kanimozhi, in the sensational 2G spectrum scam case. Leading from the front, DMK Working President hailed the Judgment as 'historic' and celebrated the occasion by distributing sweets to the jubilant party cadres at DMK headquarters 'Anna Arivalayam' in the city.

Reacting to the verdict, a smiling Kanimozhi described it as a victory for justice. She also thanked all those who supported her during the tough times faced by her.DMk cadres in the city and across the state celebrated by bursting crackers and distributing sweets.Talking to reporters after joining the celebrations by distributing sweets, Mr Stalin said it was a historic judgement on a case foisted in a bid to destroy the DMK. 

'The court has given a historic judgment. The case has been registered in 2009 in a bid to insult and destroy a party in political history', he added.(UNI)

Cong demands apology from ex-CAG Vinod Rai, Narendra Modi and Arun Jaitley 

New Delhi: After acquittal of all the accused in the 2 G scam by a special CBI court on Thursday, the Congress demanded an apology from the former CAG Vinod Rai.The party also demanded the resignation of Mr Rai from all the posts being held by him.Reacting to the court's order, senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily said at the Parliament premises here, "CAG's allegation was based on estimates, and estimates cannot stand in the judicial process".

He said Mr Rai should apologise to the country and at the same time, he should resign from all the posts that the present government has appointed him in.Mr Moily said the decision to allot 2G spectrum without bidding was the decision of the previous National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, while the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government started the allocation system on basis of bid. Therefore, if it is a crime, then the NDA government should be blamed for this.

He said the media created a hawk over the CAG report and the BJP exploited it to such an extent that it played an important role in power change at the Centre.Another Congress leader Shahshi Tharoor said that while the court's verdict has to be respected and it proved that the charges imposed on the UPA were wrong.

Describing the verdict of the special CBI court in the 2G spectrum case as a 'moral victory' for the Congress, the party on Thursday said the ruling of the court has proved that the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi unleashed a 'malicious propaganda' against the previous UPA Government with an aim to come to power at the Centre.

The party demanded an apology from Mr Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for speaking untruths on the 2G case to people during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections with the specific aim of coming to power.

Talking to reporters here, senior Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said,'the truth has been unfolded by the special CBI court in the 2G spectrum case. Ultimately, the truth has prevailed.'It has been proved now that the BJP and Mr Modi unleashed a malicious propaganda against the previous UPA Government in cahoots with former CAG Vinod Rai to defame the previous UPA Government with the sole aim of coming to power. It is because of that propaganda that the BJP is in power at the Centre and the Congress is in the opposition.

However, today, all those charges have turned out to be baseless.'Demanding an apology from Mr Jaitley and Mr Modi for speaking untruths to the people, AICC 
media incharge Randeep Surjewala said,'the verdict of the CBI special court has brought out the truth in the CBI Spectrum case. In today's verdict, the court has acquitted all the 18 people chargesheeted in the case. With the BJP, Mr Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley should now apologise to the nation for levelling false allegations against the UPA for coming to power.'(UNI)

2G verdict no vindication of UPA policy which was designed to promote corruption: Jaitley

New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today asked the Congress not to treat the verdict in 2G case as some kind of 'badge of honour', asserting that the auction policy was designed to promote corruption and the investigating agency would have a close look at it. “The policy was arbitrary and designed to promote corruption. It was implemented in an unfair manner. It was causing loss of revenue to the government and the subsequent auctioning was getting a much higher price, ” the Finance Minister said reacting to the judgemnent by the special CBI court in which all the accused were acquitted. 

Commenting on the political aspect of the case, the finance minister said, “The congress party leaders are treating this judgment as some kind of ‘badge of honour’ and a certification that the 2G allocation policy was an honest policy.”Recollecting 2G spectrum auction history, he said, “In the year 2007-08, spectrum was given not by an auction, nor by a market mechanism determining the price of 2007-08. But on the basis of the price discovery made in 2001, the spectrum value was fixed at Rs 1,734 crore per licensee. 

'Even within the policy implementation, there was a huge element of arbitrariness. The cut-off date was advanced, the first come and first serve policy was intended to serve a select few. And even this policy was arbitrarily changed and converted into first come and first pay policy. Moreover, the chosen few were informed in advance about the change in policy,” he said. In February 2012, the apex court had quashed the first come and first serve or first come and first pay policy and directed the government to have a fresh policy by which an auction would take place.

In 2015 and 2016, the NDA government announced the auctioning of 2G spectrum and generated huge sums.“The same spectrum, which was allocated at Rs 1734 crore during UPA regime gave the NDA government Rs 1.10 lakh in 2015, and Rs 65, 000 crore in 2016, which shows the policy had caused massive,' said Mr Jaitley.

On the judgement, he said, “For entire scam, who is liable? In a criminal case, the judge has said no one is liable.” Further, the minister added, “The chargesheet was filed under the direction of apex court during the UPA government and the prosecutors were appointed by the Supreme Court and now the court has said that for the entire corruption that took place, no one is liable. I’m sure that the investigating agency would have a close look at it. They will decide what to do further in the matter.'

The special court today acquitted former telecom minister A Raja and DMK lawmaker Kanimozhi in the 2G scam which rocked the telecom industry in 2011 and was key to the previous government's defeat three years later. All others accused which included top brass from corporate world were given a clean chit as well. (UNI)