Indian court acquits all accused in 2G telecoms case (updated)

Valor Estate

21/12/2017 06:45

(Adds verdict details, quotes, context) 
    NEW DELHI, Dec 21 (Reuters) - An Indian court on Thursday 
acquitted a former telecoms minister, politicians and business 
executives of graft and money laundering charges in the grant of 
telecoms licences due to lack of evidence in one of the 
country's biggest corruption scandals. 
    The case relates to alleged below-market-price sale of 
lucrative telecoms permits bundled with airwaves in 2008, which 
a federal auditor said may have cost the government as much as 
$28 billion in lost revenue. 
    A special court convened by the federal investigator was 
called to give its verdict on the accused, including former 
telecoms minister A. Raja. 
    "The prosecution has miserably failed to prove its charge," 
defence lawyer Vijay Aggarwal told reporters, citing the judge's 
ruling. 
    Shares of companies affected by the case rose after the 
verdict, with Reliance Communications Ltd  RLCM.NS  gaining as 
much as 13.3 percent, DB Realty  DBRL.NL  jumping nearly 20 
percent and SUN TV Networks Ltd  SUTV.NS  rising as much as 6.8 
percent. 
    The scandal dented the fortunes of then Prime Minister 
Manmohan Singh and his government, which oversaw the sale of the 
licences at below-market prices, and triggered street protests. 
    It was one of the several scandals that emerged during 
Singh's second term, hobbling policymaking and diverting the 
government's attention away from pushing forward crucial 
economic reforms. 
    The uncertainty hurt business sentiment in Asia's 
third-biggest economy, and led to questions about the 
government's efforts to crack down on corruption. 
    In 2012, the Supreme Court ordered 122 licences held by 
eight operators to be revoked, declaring the licences illegal 
and the process "wholly arbitrary, capricious and contrary to 
public interest". 
 
 (Reporting by Suchitra Mohanty; additional reporting by Sankalp 
Phartiyal; Editing by Malini Menon and Nick Macfie) 
 ((neha.dasgupta@tr.com; +91-11-49548058; Reuters Messaging: 
neha.dasgupta.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: INDIA COURT/TELECOMS