英语听力精选进阶版 13196（在线收听）

India 'telecoms scam' goes to court

Report

Andimuthu Raja and seven others, including two former bureaucrats, will be produced in a special court, which is expected to hold daily hearings, in one of the most high-profile trials in India. He's been charged with conspiracy, forgery and abuse of power. If convicted, he faces seven years in prison. 

Mr Raja is accused of selling second-generation mobile phone licenses in 2008, at a fraction of their real value, an action estimated to have cost the government nearly $40 billion in lost revenue. He was forced to resign from the government and was arrested in February and has been in prison since. 

The telecom scam has badly damaged the reputation of the government, which has been hit by a series of corruption scandals. Last week, wide public protests, led by an anti-corruption crusader, forced it to begin proceedings to strengthen India's anti-graft laws.

Sanjoy Majumder, BBC News, Delhi