In his first comments after being acquitted in the 2G case, former Telecom Minister A. Raja on Thursday said he stood vindicated as accusations that he took Rs 200 crore in bribe to allocate lucrative radio wave spectrum were false.He also said that it had been "repeatedly proven that the presumptive loss to the exchequer which formed the basis for the conspiracy theorists to run amok was cooked up."I have felt somewhat vindicated all along even prior to this judgment because the beneficial results of my actions are evident to and being enjoyed by the nation's public, especially the poor," Raja said in a statement.He said as Telecom Minister, he had brought "revolution in the telecom sector" in India. "It is not unknown to history that a person who did a revolution is often termed as a criminal."Earlier in the day, a special court here exonerated the DMK leader and all other accused of all charges of corruption in the case.Raja alleged that "vested interests manipulated public perception by leveraging the media and sensationalising fabricated allegations" against him.
Raja, who was jailed for 15 months for his alleged wrongdoing, said Judge O.P. Saini had held that it was not just a case of "prosecution failing to prove its allegations but a case where the prosecution case itself was false".This, he said, "was my submission from the very first day".Raja added: "My firm belief in the rightfulness of my actions as well as my faith in our nation's justice system has been validated today."All my actions as telecom minister had been for the benefit of the masses, to make wireless service more economical and widely available, in line with National Telecom Policy (NTP) and the recommendations of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)."As an advocate myself and a public servant I had full faith in the judiciary and I cooperated fully with the trial and did not seek even a single day adjournment."I also had the courage and confidence to step into the witness box and gave evidence and offered myself for cross examination by the CBI, which is very unusual in criminal trials in India," he said."I may note that the learned trial judge has repeatedly observed that my evidence was cogent, credible and consistent with the official records, in contrast with the evidence of the prosecution witnesses whose evidence has been rejected as untrustworthy."