CBI contests acquittal of former telecom minister A Raja in 2G spectrum allocation scam

The Delhi High Court on Friday admitted a CBI appeal against the acquittal of former telecom minister A Raja and 16 others in the 2G spectrum allocation scam case, paving the way for a hearing in the matter six years after the plea was filed by the agency.

Admitting the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) appeal, the high court said there are “some contradictions” in the trial court’s judgment which require “deeper examination”. It granted the CBI “leave to appeal”, saying the probe agency has made arguable points.

“Leave to appeal” is a formal permission granted by a court to a party to challenge a decision in a higher court.

“The court based on material on record, and after going through the sworn testimonies, the material on record, the impugned judgment and the submissions made at the bar by both the parties has reached an objective satisfaction that there is a prima facie case which requires deeper examination and re-appreciation/re-appraisal of the entire evidence,” Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma said.

“The court during the hearing has also noticed some contradictions in the judgement itself, which requires deeper examination. The court at this stage is required to have a prima facie helicopter view. There may be a possibility that such contradictions are explained by the defence during the hearing,” the court said in its verdict on the CBI’s “leave to appeal”.

The appeal was filed by the CBI in March 2018, but the aspect of ‘leave to appeal’ was heard by seven different judges before coming to Justice Sharma who reserved the verdict on March 14.

The special court had on December 21, 2017, acquitted Raja, DMK MP Kanimozhi and others in the CBI and ED cases related to the 2G scam.

On March 20, 2018, the CBI approached the high court, challenging the special court’s judgment.

IT Rules case

The Supreme Court on Friday transferred to the Delhi High Court a batch of pleas pending before different high courts across the country challenging the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.

A bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and Prashant Kumar Mishra noted that several petitions were pending on the issue before different high courts including Karnataka, Madras, Calcutta, Kerala and Bombay high courts.

“In order to avoid contradictory judgments, the Union of India would wish to have all matters consolidated for analogous hearing.

“Since a large number of these cases are pending consideration before the Delhi High Court, we deem it appropriate to transfer the matters in various HCs to the Delhi HC,” the bench said.

The top court directed that all relevant paper books shall be transferred by the high courts to the Delhi High Court within four days.

The apex court passed the order on a transfer petition moved by the Centre for consolidation of all petitions at one high court. Advocate Rajat Nair, appearing for the Centre, submitted that the Delhi High Court is hearing five matters relating to the challenge to the 2021 Rules and it will be convenient for lawyers to appear before it.

PTI