New Delhi : The Congress party on Thursday said the verdict of special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on the 2G spectrum allocation cases proved the innocence of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA).
All accused in the 2G spectrum allocation scam cases – including former telecom minister A Raja and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) MP Kanimozhi – were, earlier in the day, acquitted by a Special CBI court.
“The court’s verdict in 2G has proved UPA’s innocence. The BJP conspired against us and its lies have been exposed,” Congress leader Randeep Surjewala said, while addressing the media.
Surjewala added the court had brought to the fore the connivance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to insult Congress and the country.
He also sought answers from the BJP and all those who painted the UPA and Congress as corrupt.
“Prime Minister Modi, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and the BJP should apologise to nation,” Surjewala added.
The verdict was announced nearly seven years after the first arrest was made by the CBI in 2011.
The alleged scam relates to the granting of 2G spectrum licence allocations in 2007-08, which caused, according to a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, a loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the public exchequer. It was among the major corruption scandals that came to light during the second term of the UPA government headed by Manmohan Singh. (ANI)