2G Money Laundering Case: Shahid Balwa, Others Planted Trees, HC Informed

Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa and two others on Thursday informed the Delhi High Court that they had complied with its order to plant trees for failing to file in time their response to the ED’s appeal challenging their acquittals in 2G scam cases. Justice A K Chawla sought the response of the deputy conservator of forest (DCF) on the compliance of the order by the three individuals.

The court listed the matter for further hearing on October 24, the date already fixed in the main appeals filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The court had earlier directed Balwa and directors of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Private Limited — Asif Balwa and Rajiv Agarwal, who were acquitted in the ED case, to plant trees in Delhi’s South Ridge forest area.

Advocate Vijay Aggarwal, appearing for the three individuals, said they had complied with the court’s order and planted the trees. “We have planted 1,500 trees each. We are contributing to the fresh air in Delhi,” he submitted.

The three individuals along with others, including former Telecom minister A Raja and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) MP Kanimozhi, were acquitted by the trial court in the money laundering case filed by the ED. A special court on December 21, 2017, acquitted Raja and Kanimozhi in the CBI and ED cases.

It acquitted 17 others, including DMK supremo M Karunanidhi’s wife Dayalu Ammal, Vinod Goenka, Asif Balwa, film producer Karim Morani, P Amirtham and Kalaignar TV director Sharad Kumar in the ED case. On the same day, the trial court had acquitted Raja, Kanimozhi and 15 others, including former telecom secretary Siddharth Behura, Chandolia, Unitech Ltd M D Sanjay Chandra and three top executives of Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (RADAG) — Gautam Doshi, Surendra Pipara and Hari Nair, in the CBI’s 2G case.—Devdiscourse