New Delhi, October 8
The Supreme Court will hear on Monday a string of sensational and high-profile cases, including the 2G Spectrum scam, the 2008 terror attack on Mumbai and the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991.

The hearing in the 2G case relates to a plea for a CBI probe into the alleged failure of P Chidambaram to prevent the 2007-08 scam despite being the Finance Minister that time. The CBI and the Centre are against the plea by Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy.

At the last hearing, just before the week-long Dussehra break, the relevant SC Bench had taken from the CBI a 500-page document containing the statement of former Finance Secretary D Subbarao, who is now Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, to assess the need for examining Chidambaram.

The CBI had argued that Subbarao’s statement had ruled out the possibility of Chidambaram’s involvement in the scam. The Bench comprising Justices GS Singhvi and AK Ganguly has indicated that it would conclude the hearing on Monday.

In support of his plea, Swamy has produced a background paper produced by the Finance Ministry headed by Pranabh Mukherjee on the 2G scam, claiming that this document has exposed Chidambaram’s lapses in preventing then Telecom Minister A Raja from going ahead with the allocation of 2G Spectrum at 2001 prices, instead of auctioning it to realise the market rate prevailing in 2008.

Another Bench comprising Justices Aftab Alam and CK Prasad will hear the appeal of Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab challenging the death sentence awarded to him for attacking Mumbai in November 2008 along with nine other LeT operatives. As many as 166 persons were killed in the attack. A trial court in Mumbai had given him death penalty on May 6, 2010, which was confirmed by the Bombay High Court on February 21 this year. Kasab has sent the letter petition from the jail.

The third case relates to a petition by a Congress activist seeking the transfer of the case, filed in the Madras High Court by the three convicts sentenced to death for their role in the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, either to the SC or some HC outside Tamil Nadu.

A Bench comprising Justices GS Singhvi and HL Dattu has already issued notice to the Centre, the state government, the three convicts - Santhan, Murugan and Arivu - the Inspector General (Prisons) and the Superintendent of Police, Vellore Prisons, where the death row convicts are jailed. The petitioner, LK Venkat, a physically challenged lawyer, contended that the surcharged atmosphere prevailing in Tamil Nadu over the issue was not conducive to hearing the case in the state.

In their petition in the HC, the convicts have pleaded for commuting their death sentence to life term in view of the long delay in the rejection of their mercy petitions by the President and their consequential solitary confinement. Staying their execution, the HC issued notice to the government on August 30.