The 2G spectrum scam trial today commenced in a Delhi court. Former telecom minister Mr A Raja, DMK MP Ms Kanimozhi, corporate honchos and telecom firms are among those standing trial. Special CBI judge Mr OP Saini started recording the statement of Mr Anand Subramaniam, assistant vice-president of Reliance Capital Ltd, as a prosecution witness. 

The court had also summonsed for today two other prosecution witnesses group president of Reliance Mr AN Sethuraman and chief regulatory officer of Etisalat DB Telecom Pvt Ltd Mr Vinod Kumar Budhiraja to examine them. 

The CBI, in its first list, had submitted names of 28 persons to be examined as prosecution witnesses before the court in the month of November. The court, after framing charges against 17 accused persons, including three telecom firms, had slated the trial for beginning from today.          

In the first list, out of 28, 11 witnesses are from the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) which suggest that the agency wants to deal first with the charges against accused firms Reliance Telecom Ltd (RTL) and Mr Shahid Usman Balwa-promoted Swan Telecom.          

Besides Mr Raja and Ms Kanimozhi, the court had framed charges against Reliance ADAG managing director Mr Gautam Doshi, its group president Mr Surendra Pipara, its senior vice-president Mr Hari Nair, Mr Shahid Usman Balwa, Unitech Ltd's MD Mr Sanjay Chandra, DB Realty MD Mr Vinod Goenka, Kalaignar TV MD Mr Sharad Kumar and Bollywood filmmaker Karim Morani.           

Former telecom secretary Mr Siddharth Behura, Mr Raja's former private secretary Mr RK Chandolia, directors of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd Mr Asif Balwa and Mr Rajeev Agarwal, and three telecom firms ~ RTL, Swan Telecom and Unitech Wireless (Tamil Nadu) Pvt Ltd have also been put on trial. 

The charges framed against all the accused under various provisions of the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act deal with offences of criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery, faking documents, abusing official position, accepting bribe and criminal misconduct by a public servant (s). The offences entail punishment ranging from six months in jail to life imprisonment.