The Supreme Court on Thursday came down heavily on former telecom minister A Raja for 'bypassing' and even 'overruling' Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's advice to defer the allocation of 2G spectrum by a few days.
Former telecom minister A Raja and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP Kanimozhi, facing trial in the 2G spectrum case, were on Wednesday exempted by a Delhi court from appearing before it on Thursday to cast their votes in the Presidential polls.
Telephone calls from Congress ministers at the Centre, including Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, on behalf of the party high command may have forced Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M Karunanidhi to seal the fate of Union Telecom Minister A Raja, who was asked to resign after he landed in Delhi last night.
Former telecom secretary Siddharth Behura, arrested for his alleged role in the 2G spectrum allocation scam along with former telecom minister A Raja on February 2, was denied bail by the Delhi high court on Friday.
Telecom minister A Raja, who has retained the portfolio he held in the previous United Progressive Alliance government, said bringing down mobile tariffs to 10 paise a minute for local calls and 25 paise a minute for STD calls would be on top of his agenda during his second tenure. In India, at present local call rates vary from 40 paise to Re 1, and national call rates from Re 1 to Rs 2 a minute.
Former Telecom Minister A Raja, who is prime accused in the 2G scam, on Sunday lashed out at certain political parties and the media for "blowing out of proportion the false charges" against him on the spectrum issue.
The court dismissed the plea of Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy seeking its direction to the prime minister to decide on granting sanction against his Cabinet colleague Raja on a complaint pending before the PMO for the last two years.
DoT, has decided that it will not cancel the GSM licences of dual-technology companies.
Former Union Telecom Minister A Raja has rejected Joint Parliamentary Committee chairman P C Chacko's offer giving him a chance to respond on the 2G spectrum allocation issue in written submissions, saying he wants to personally depose before the panel to tender evidence on the matter.
Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister M K Stalin is in New Delhi on Wednesday and is expected to visit colleague and former Telecom Minister A Raja in the Tihar jail.
After 10 months in jail, former bureaucrat R K Chandolia, an accused in the 2G case, was on Thursday granted bail by a Delhi court which said that his case "cannot be equated" with that of former Telecom Minister A Raja and former telecom secretary Siddharth Behura, now the only two accused still behind bars.
Raja said he had, in fact, brought a 'revolution' in the telecom sector.
Former Telecom Minister A Raja on Friday appeared before the CBI for questioning in the Rs 22,000 crore 2G spectrum scam, over a year after the agency registered a case in this connection.
A Delhi court on Friday dismissed the bail plea of Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa and former telecom minister A Raja's secretary R K Chandolia in the 2G spectrum allocation scam, saying they are "high ranking public servants" and may tamper with the probe. In not granting the relief, the judge also took into account the "initial stage of the investigation and other facts and circumstances of the case."
"I requested the operators, the termination charge can come down by 2010 and accordingly tariffs can be reduced," the minister told reporters after meeting with CEOs of telecom companies in New Delhi.
Former telecom minister A Raja, who was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday in connection with the 2G spectrum scam, will be produced before the CBI court at Patiala house on Thursday afternoon.Two of Raja's key aides -- S Behura and R K Chandolia -- were also arrested by the CBI on Wednesday. According to CBI officials, the agency has enough evidence against Raja and others in the spectrum scandal. The CBI is expected to seek custody of Raja.
The office of Attorney General Goolam E Vahanvati has said he had offered advice as solicitor general to the then External Affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee and Telecom minister A Raja in 2007 on 2G spectrum issues but it was not written and there is no copy of it.
The former union telecom minister in his 'interim explanation' said he had not spoken anything 'obscene' or which would lower the dignity of women and motherhood.
The government is not seeking to change the 2012 Supreme Court judgment that backed auction as the preferred mode of allocating telecom spectrum except for narrowly defined sectors such as satellite communication and defence where the auction is not feasible, a top source said on Wednesday.
In an embarrassment to former Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan, Supreme Court Judge H L Gokhale on Tuesday contradicted his claim that he was not aware that it was former Union Telecom Minister A Raja, who had tried to influence a Madras high court judge in a criminal case.
On Monday, Attorney General R Venkataramani, appearing for the Centre, mentioned an interim application before a bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice J B Pardiwala.
The CBI on Wednesday called Loop Telecom, CEO Sandeep Basu, Chairman of Shyam group Rajiv Mehrotra, former telecom minister A Raja's brother A K Perumal and close aide Sadiq Batcha, for questioning in relation with the 2G spectrum scam.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M Karunanidhi on Wednesday said the law would take its own course on the bail plea moved by former telecom minister A Raja, an accused in the 2G spectrum scam.
A day after the Supreme Court sought his response to a prayer for tracking the progress of the CBI probe into the alleged spectrum scam, Telecom Minister A Raja on Tuesday termed the move as "politically motivated."
The Joint Parliamentary Committee has given a clean chit to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 2G spectrum allocation, saying he was "misled" by the then Telecom Minister A Raja whose assurances stood "belied".
A Raja, the prime accused in 2G spectrum scam, came to Parliament a day after being released from Tihar jail where he was lodged after his arrest in the case on February 1 last year.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Tuesday welcomed the decision of a Delhi court to grant bail to former telecom minister A Raja, who was arrested 15 months ago in connection with the 2G spectrum scam.
We have not paid Rs 20 crore as bribe to former telecom minister A Raja, says Ratan Tata.
The DoT issued the information memorandum last week, saying auction would start on January 14 and for this to happen, the blocks of spectrum to be auctioned must be identified latest by the first week of December.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday opposed in a Delhi court the bail plea of former telecom minister A Raja, arrested for his alleged role in the 2G spectrum allocation case last year, saying the agency is probing an allegation that the DMK minister got Rs 200 crore in bribe. CBI prosecutor A K Singh opposed Raja's bail plea, saying there is a new allegation that he has received Rs 200 crore as bribe and this angle is being investigated.
Former telecom minister A Raja on Tuesday claimed in a Delhi court that CBI investigating officer in the 2G spectrum scam had not fairly investigated the case and had "intimidated" certain witnesses to depose as per the agency's wishes.
Communist Party of India-Marxist member in the Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G spectrum allocation Sitaram Yechury on Wednesday supported calling former Telecom Minister A Raja as a witness before the panel saying it will help reaching "closer to the truth".
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief J Jayalalithaa on Wednesday said the arrest of former telecom minister A Raja in the 2G Spectrum scam raised more questions than answers and alleged that it was a "purely political" decision keeping in mind Tamil Nadu Assembly polls.
The Enforcement Directorate has questioned former Telecom Minister A Raja's close aide R K Chandolia in connection with the alleged 2G spectrum scam and indicated that more officials are under its scanner. Official sources said Chandolia, who served as the personal secretary to Raja at the time of the controversial spectrum allocation in 2008, was questioned for seven hours by the ED on Thursday.
Having traversed through the DMK bastion of Thiruvarur and the AIADMK stronghold of Srirangam, Saisuresh Sivaswamy concludes his poll journey in Peramabalur -- the hometown of jailed former telecom minister A Raja -- which slowly seems like slipping out of the DMK's hands.
Kalia Perumal, brother of former telecom minister A Raja, was on Wednesday questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with the 2G spectrum case.
Former telecom minister A Raja, the main accused in the 2G scam, was not allowed to appear before the Joint Parliamentary Committee that is looking into the alleged mishandling in the allocation of 2G spectrum.
The ED, in its chargesheet, had alleged that Rs 200 crore was paid by Swan Telecom (P) Ltd promoters to DMK-run Kalaignar TV.
Former telecom minister A Raja, who has so far not cross-examined any witness in the 2G case trial, is likely to open his defence next week by questioning his former additional private secretary Aseervatham Achary, a prosecution witness, sources said.
Former Telecom Minister A Raja on Monday defended himself against corruption charges in the 2G scam, saying he had not done anything wrong and was merely following the policies pursued by his predecessors and the National Democratic Alliance government.
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