India's Supreme Court on Friday ruled that Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram would not have to stand trial in a multibillion-dollar telecommunications corruption scandal, citing a lack of evidence of wrongdoing, dpa reported. A petition by opposition politician Subramaniam Swamy had asked the court to summon Chidambaram as an accused and investigate his role in India's biggest graft case, which allegedly cost the exchequer 40 billion dollars in lost earnings by not following procedure in selling off mobile telephone spectrum. Swamy alleged that Chidambaram, one of the most powerful leaders of the ruling United Progressive Alliance, was party to the fraudulent sale of the telecommunications licences in 2008. Justices GS Singhvi and KS Radhakrishnan said no evidence showed Chidbambaram had obtained monetary benefits or that he had abused his office to favour anyone, the broadcaster NDTV reported. The court also said criminal conspiracy could not be inferred just because Chidambaram had discussed the pricing of the mobile spectrum with the key accused, Andimuthu Raja, then-telecommunications minister. Swamy told reporters outside the court that the verdict was not based on his arguments and he would seek a review of the ruling. Swamy's petition challenged an earlier ruling by a lower court that rejected his plea to make Chidambaram an accused. Friday's ruling gave some respite to Premier Manmohan Singh's government, whose credibility has been battered by a slew of corruption cases. -- SPA
