New Delhi:
The trial in the telecom case began this morning in Delhi for 14 people including former minister A Raja and Kanimozhi, whose father heads the DMK, have been accused of a kaleidoscope of charges including criminal conspiracy.
Those in prison and now on trial include executives who were heading companies that may not have been the biggest but are now household names - Reliance Infocomm, Swan which is now known as Etisalat DB and Unitech Wireless.
In court, Kanimozhi was seated, as she has been through hundreds of court appearances, with her husband. She was wearing a blue salwaar kameez and appeared composed. Mr Raja, who allegedly directed and produced the telecom scam, was seated just a row away. (
2G scam: Charges against Raja, others)
Tracking the updates in Chennai was Mr Karunanidhi, who was reportedly not pleased that senior leaders from his party broke with recent tradition and did not show up in court to demonstrate the DMK's support for her. Sources within the DMK say that a section of the party believes that the regular appearances of its top members in court have been misinterpreted as an attempt to influence court proceedings. It's not clear whether Mr Karunanidhi agrees with that assessment - he has noted that since Kanimozhi was refused bail on October 24, many members of the DMK have not been to meet him. Sources close to him also say that he feels DMK leaders in Delhi are not providing accurate updates on his daughter's case - he was told, for instance, that the Delhi High Court would decide on her latest and fifth request for bail in three days - instead, the matter will be heard on December 1, which means Kanimozhi will spend all of November in jail.
The DMK, on account of the alleged involvement of Kanimozhi and Mr Raja, has been handicapped by the telecom scam. A third leader - Dayanidhi Maran - is also being investigated for misusing his office when he served as Telecom Minister before Mr Raja.
In court today, Mr Raja provided one of the more gripping moments in what were otherwise standard court proceedings. He told the court that at this point, he doesn't want to cross-examine the witnesses being produced by the CBI. Mr Raja filed an an application saying "Once the probe is over and the CBI has supplied the statements of all the witnesses to me, I will exercise the right to recall the witnesses for cross-examination. Till then, the court may proceed with the trial in my absence." His suggestion was refused within seconds. Lawyers for those accused of conspiring with Mr Raja were also surprised by his request. "The entire case and the charges of criminal conspiracy, abuse of official position, everything emanates from Raja," they argued. "If he doesn't cross-examine the witnesses, how will we put up our defence and take the case forward?"
The telecom trial is being conducted by Judge OP Saini in a special court. For this month, the CBI has shortlisted 28 witnesses, 11 of who are from the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) which suggest that the CBI wants to deal first with the charges against accused firms Reliance Telecom Ltd (RTL), accused of using Swan Telecom as a front for acquiring more licenses and spectrum than legally permissible.
First up was the statement and examination of prosecution witness Anand Subramanium, the Assistant Vice President, Reliance Capital Limited. Also questioned today was AN Sethuraman who is the Group President of Reliance ADAG. They were asked about the shareholding patterns of the companies as well as matters like bank account details, minutes of crucial meetings and decisions made.
The telecom scam has acquired superstar status for a collision of reasons - not just because of the whopping amount of money it cost the government - 30,000 crores according to the CBI and 1.76 lakh crores per the government's auditor. The A-listers it has packed into tiny cells in Tihar Jail have been refused bail for months now in multiple courtrooms. And its roots in a government department have meant that as the investigation into the case has progressed, the consequences have refracted across the political landscape with unforgiving fervor. In the Supreme Court, the Prime Minister and P Chidambaram, who was Finance Minister when the scam played out, have repeatedly been referred to with the emphasis placed on whether they did enough to stop Mr Raja from his alleged daylight robbery. (
In Pics: A-listers in Tihar)
What many point out is that Mr Raja made no attempt to disguise his actions. He ignored the PM's advice, manipulated guidelines, and undervalued licences to benefit companies who were not eligible for mobile network licences or accompanying spectrum. This is an argument Mr Raja has also invoked in his defence - that his actions were known to the PM and Mr Chidambaram, and neither made any attempt to over-rule him. Therefore, Mr Raja says, he cannot be the only one held responsible if indeed a scam did take place.
The Opposition does not find fault with that logic. And Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy, a major petitioner in the case, has asked the Supreme Court to make Mr Chidambaram a co-accused along with Mr Raja.
Political attention has also been unwavering on how the imprisonment of Kanimozhi affects her father's partnership with the Congress. The DMK's 16 Lok Sabha MPs makes the party a vital link in the UPA coalition at the Centre. Mr Karunanidhi has expressed publicly and often his concern for his daughter's well-being in jail. She was arrested at the end of May, and her fourth request for bail was rejected a few days ago, when she broke down for the first time in Judge Saini's court. On December 1, the Delhi High Court will consider her most recent bail application. So far, Mr Karunanidhi has said the telecom case - and his daughter's entanglement - will not change his alliance with the Congress. Yesterday, he said that "if courts, one of the pillars of Indian democracy, hesitated to provide legal rights and protect the basics of the law, a question will rise in everybody's mind where Indian democracy is going and about its future." (
Read: No bail for Kanimozhi will undermine democracy: Karunanidhi)
All the 14 individuals charged in the case have now spent six months or more in jail. Raja has been in jail since February - but he has not asked for bail because he says he wants to demolish the CBI's case against him in court. Telecom executives like Sanjay Chandra of Unitech Wireless and Gautam Doshi, Hari Nair and Surendra Pipara of Reliance Telecom were imprisoned in April.
Apart from A Raja and Kanimozhi, the other 12 individuals accused in the case are former Telecom Secretary Siddharth Behura; former personal secretary to A Raja RK Chandolia; Group MD, Reliance- ADAG, Gautam Doshi; Senior Vice President, Reliance- ADAG, Surendra Pipara; Senior Vice President, Reliance- ADAG, Hari Nair; Former MD, Unitech Wireless Sanjay Chandra; Promoter of DB Realty and Swan Telecom Shahid Balwa, Promoter and MD, DB Realty and Swan Telecom Vinod Goenka; MD, Kalaignar TV Sharath Kumar; Director, Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Rajeev Agarwal; Director, Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Asif Balwa and the Promoter of Cineyug Films Karim Morani. The three companies standing trial are Reliance Telecommunication, Unitech Wireless Pvt Ltd (Tamil Nadu) and Swan Telecom.