HC defers hearing on 2G Spectrum case till August

The Delhi High Court today deferred hearing on Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy's petition seeking direction to the Prime Minister to take a decision on granting sanction to prosecute Telecom Minister A Raja for his alleged involvement in 2G spectrum allocation scam.

The Delhi High Court today deferred hearing on Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy's petition seeking direction to the Prime Minister to take a decision on granting sanction to prosecute Telecom Minister A Raja for his alleged involvement in 2G spectrum allocation scam.

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A Bench headed by acting Chief Justice Madan B Lokur adjourned the hearing till August 18 in view of court vacation and Swamy saying he will not be available immediately after vacation due to his teaching assignment at Harvard University.

Swamy pleaded in his petition that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should be directed to take a decision on his complaint which has been pending for the last 18 months.

He contended that the Prime Minister had not acted on his complaint on the ground that CBI has registered a case against some unknown persons in alleged irregularity in 2G spectrum allocation and that investigation is still going on.

"Eighteen months are too long and Prime Minister should have decided his application for getting sanction to prosecute Raja. If he thinks that the material placed by me is worthless then he should have rejected my application. But he can not sit on my plea," Swamy had argued.

"Government should explain why there is delay. Government should be compelled to say how long it will take to decide on the issue as Rs 60,000 crore is involved in it," he said.

Swami has also filed another petition seeking court's direction to scrap allocation of 2G spectrum to telecom companies on the ground that the procedure followed by the Department of Telecommunication was "arbitrary, illegal and against the norms".