Court dismisses plea against Chidambaram in 2G scam

New Delhi - In a huge political reprieve for the Home Minister P Chidambaram and the UPA government, a special CBI court on Saturday dismissed a petition seeking to make him a co-accused in the 2G scam case.

Special CBI Judge OP Saini pronounced the judgement on camera in the presence of the petitioner, his wife, his private secretary and one more council.

Reacting to the verdict, the petitioner said that he will move the High Court against it. He said he will react to the verdict after going through the details.

The petitioner had alleged that Chidambaram was equally culpable like former Telecom Minister A Raja as he also had a role in deciding the spectrum pricing and allowing telecom companies to off-load shares to foreign firms.
 
The petitioner, who concluded arguments in the trial court in support of his plea, had said the evidence brought on record, prima facie established that Chidambaram was also culpable like Raja in the case.

Supreme Court had left the matter to be decided by the trial court. A bench of justices GS Singhvi and AK Ganguly, which asked the lower court not to get influenced by its decision, had also refused to direct CBI to "investigate Chidambaram".

The apex court, which came down heavily on former telecom minister A Raja and cancelled 122 2G licenses, however, did not find any fault on the part of the Prime Minister and then Finance Minister P Chidambaram.