Trial in 2G spectrum case gets off to noisy start

The trial in the 2G spectrum allocation case got under way today in a special CBI court in New Delhi Trial today as Justice O P Saini commenced recording the statement of Anand Subramaniam, assistant vice president of Reliance Capital Ltd, as a prosecution witness.

Former telecom minister A Raja of the DMK, Kanimozhi, MP and daughter of DMK chief M Karunanidhi, top corporate executives and some telecom firms are among the high-profile accused in what is labelled India's biggest-ever scam, when spectrum was allegedly sold at rock-bottom prices and select firms were favoured by Raja in 2008. Most of them have been in jail for more than seven months, though a few obtained bail earlier.

The court has also summoned for today two other prosecution witnesses – Reliance group president A N Sethuraman and chief regulatory officer of Etisalat DB Telecom Pvt Ltd Vinod Kumar Budhiraja.

The trial got off to a noisy start as there was a ruckus in the courtroom over the lack of space, with the defence counsel objecting to trial in such a cramped space.

The Central Bureau of Investigation, in its first list, had submitted the names of 28 persons to be examined as prosecution witnesses before the court in November. It has framed charges against 17 accused, including three telecom firms.

Of the 28 in the first list, 11 witnesses are from Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG), which suggests that the agency wants to deal first with the charges against accused firms Reliance Telecom Ltd (RTL) and Shahid Usman Balwa-promoted Swan Telecom, which it alleges was a front for Reliance to bag extra spectrum.