SC admits plea against Khurshid

The Supreme Court allowed a petition accusing Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid of publicly giving a clean chit to Essar/Loop

The Supreme Court Thursday allowed a petition accusing Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid of publicly giving a clean chit to Essar/Loop,which have been chargesheeted by the CBI in the 2G scam case.

NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation,represented by Prashant Bhushan,told the court that senior people in the government and the CBI influenced the investigators to press lighter charges of cheating and conspiracy against Loop and Essar.

It was on an earlier plea filed by Centre for Public Interest Litigation that the SC had ordered a CBI probe into the 2G Spectrum scam.

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The fresh petition questions why charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act were not brought against Telecom officials who issued Letters of Intent for 2G allocation. Interference of an influential minister,Mr Salman Khurshid,is evident. He is publicly giving clean chit to Essar/Loop. A recent opinion by his ministry giving clean chit to Essar is attached herewith, the plea says.

The plea claims that the Loop-Essar link through a web of companies is similar to that of Swan-Reliance. But while the CBI chargesheeted Swan,Reliance and Telecom officials under the Prevention of Corruption Act,Loop and Essar were let off lightly.

The petition also accuses CBI chief A P Singh and its Director of Prosecution Abdul Aziz of having played a role in the outcome of the chargesheet against Loop/Essar. Aziz overruled the report of investigating officers and said no criminal case is made out… Azizs son is employed in Essar-Loop and he reportedly recused himself… Despite this,his opinion was factored in decision making, the plea claims.

Singh,the plea adds,disagreed with Aziz on the criminal case,but concluded that Telecom officials were at that time ignorant that Loop was controlled by Essar.