A former telecom minister and 13 other people will stand trial next month over alleged massive corruption in the sale of mobile licences that has rocked India's government, a judge said Saturday. The far-reaching scandal, one of several dogging Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's administration, has paralysed policy-making and shifted the government's focus away from pushing ahead with important economic reforms.
Judge O.P. Saini set the start of the trial for November 11 after concluding there was enough "prima facie" evidence against detained former telecom minister A. Raja and the 13 others to be prosecuted in the so-called "2G scam". The judge accepted prosecution arguments that Raja and other ex-government officials be charged with the serious offence of breach of trust for allegedly causing losses to the state coffers of up to $40 billion.
They face a maximum life jail term if found guilty. The range of charges against the accused also includes forgery, taking bribes and conspiracy. Prosecutors say Raja sold telecom licences in 2008 at give-away prices to favoured companies that paid bribes to secure sought-after second-generation (2G) bandwidth in the world's fastest-growing mobile phone market.
The south Indian politician, who belongs to the DMK, a key regional party in the national Congress-led coalition, and other accused left court surrounded by police who shielded them from a mob of journalists and were taken back to jail. Others facing trial include Kanimozhi, who goes by one name, the daughter of heavyweight southern politician M. Karunanidhi, who heads the DMK.
"They are very confident that they have not done anything illegal or wrong so they will come out clean," senior DMK leader T.K.S. Elangovan told India's NDTV news. "The prosecution will find it difficult to prove the charges." All the accused say they are innocent of any wrongdoing in the scandal, which police say led to losses of $6.7 billion. The national audit office said the scandal involved losses of up to $40 billion to the state. The "2G scam" - one of the biggest in independent India's history - has led to intense pressure on Singh and cast a shadow over the top-performing telecom sector.
Bail applications will be heard for eight of the 14 accused on Monday. Several senior corporate telecom executives - including billionaire Shahid Balwa - also face trial. On top of the individuals, three telecom firms - Reliance Telecom, Unitech Wireless and Swan - have also been charged.
Reliance Telecom is a subsidiary of India's second-biggest mobile phone player Reliance Communications, controlled by billionaire Anil Ambani; Unitech Wireless, owned by property firm Unitech, is the Indian joint venture partner of Norway's Telenor. Swan is the partner of Emirates operator Etisalat. A Reliance Telecom spokesman said in a conference call that it was "very confident of mounting a successful defence in the trial."
The formal framing of charges caps months of court hearings involving the federal Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the accused arguing over evidence. Special CBI Prosecutor U.U. Lalit says that every one of the accused was "part of the conspiracy".
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