Terming the Supreme Court order in 2G case as "historic", lawyer Prashant Bhushan said it will send a strong signal to the corporates and corrupt public officials who retain the benefits of illegal acts.

"It is a historic judgement...this judgement will send a strong signal to the entire country and in particular the corporate world that this country is no longer willing to allow these corrupt corporates and the corrupt public officials to retain the benefits of illegal and corrupt acts," he told reporters outside Supreme Court after the judgement.

Bhushan, who was one of the petitioners in the 2G case, said the judgement will also help change the nature the way corruption is dealt with. He also said the judgement will help the public exchequer to recover losses caused to the grant of 2G licences by then Telecom minister A Raja in January 2008 and thereafter.

He said the corporates will have to "refund the benefits" they got out of the illegal licences.