The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday said the government should not make A Raja and Suresh Kalmadi scapegoats in the 2-G spectrum and Commonwealth Games scams and asserted that since all decisions were taken by the Union Cabinet and the prime minister, a joint parliamentary probe alone could bring out the truth. He stuck to the BJP stand that until a JPC is formed, the whole truth will not come out.
Almost four years after savage tariff cuts, the telecom sector is slowly limping back to normalcy.
Central Bureau of Investigation officials raided former Telecom Minister A Raja's houses in Chennai and Delhi. The CBI also raided the houses of four telecom officials. The raids are being carried out at the residences of former telecom secretary Siddharth Behura, Raja's personal secretary R K Chandolia, member telecom K Sridhar and deputy director general, Department of Telecom, A K Srivastava.
The Aam Aadmi Party has fielded academician M T Rani from Nilgiris seat of Tamil Nadu from where former Union minister A Raja is in the fray.
Former Telecom Secretary D S Mathur on Tuesday told a Delhi court that he did not find the Department of Telecom officially processing some key letters on the 2G spectrum allocation issue, exchanged between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and erstwhile Telecom Minister A Raja.
The senior Congress leader, a Rajya Sabha MP, said "all your friends are greatly relieved that truth has prevailed".
Former Telecom Minister A Raja, the prime accused facing trial in the 2G case, on Thursday completed one year in jail since his arrest in the high-profile scam.
In a crackdown as part of the 2G spectrum scam probe, the Central Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday searched 34 offices and residences of corporate lobbyist Niira Radia, former Telecom Regulatory Authority of India chairman Pradip Baijal, siblings of ex-Telecom Minister A Raja and an NGO linked to Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam member of Parliament Kanimozhi.
The Enforcement Directorate has questioned former telecom minister A Raja in connection with its money laundering probe in the 2G spectrum case. This is the first time that the ED has questioned Raja in the case.
Former Telecom Minister A Raja's aide Sadiq Batcha was found hanging at his Chennai residence on Wednesday, police sources said.
Former Telecom Minister A Raja today questioned in the Supreme Court the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) finding that the exchequer had suffered a loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore in the allocation of 2G spectrum, terming the figure as "mind boggling and speculative".
The Apex Court has asked the minister and the two agencies to respond to the notice within the next ten days.
Former telecom minister A Raja on Monday wrote a strongly-worded letter to Joint Parliamentary Committee Chairman P C Chacko, slamming the draft report of the committee on the 2G scam.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) began making submissions on Monday on its appeal before the Delhi high court challenging the acquittal of accused persons, including former telecom minister A Raja, and firms in the 2G spectrum allocation scam case in December 2017.
Continuing its probe in the 2G spectrum allocation scam, the Central Bureau of Investigation questioned two top telecom honchos besides close aides of former Telecom Minister A Raja, including his brother Kalia Perumal. The agency quizzed chief executive officer of Loop Telecom Sandip Basu and chairman of Sistema Shyam Teleservices Rajiv Mehrotra in connection with the scam, official sources said.
Throwing its weight behind former telecom minister A Raja, the Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam on Thursday said his arrest does not prove his guilt in the 2G spectrum scam and accused opposition parties of targetting him to "malign" the party.
Hitting out at JPC Chairman P C Chacko for not inviting former Telecom Minister A Raja to depose before it, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Yashwant Sinha alleged that the panel could be used to "conceal the truth" in the 2G scam rather than expose it.
Addressing a hurriedly called press conference to clear his position in the wake of Left parties demanding a probe, alleging Rs 60,000 crore (Rs 600 billion) loss to the exchequer in spectrum allocation, the minister said that Trai recommendations were followed in letter and spirit.
A Delhi court on Monday allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation to interrogate former telecom minister A Raja and two other accused in the 2G case in the Patiala House court complex.
Former telecom minister Arun Shourie agreed with A Raja that the latter had discussed the 2G spectrum issue with Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and then finance minister P Chidambaram before going ahead, but refuted his claim of following the National Democratic Alliance policy.
A plea by former Telecom Minister A Raja that he would not cross-examine prosecution witnesses unless the Central Bureau of Investigation probe is over in 2G spectrum case, was dismissed on Friday by a Delhi court which began formal trial in the matter.
The Opposition, which had been gunning for the removal Telecom Minister A Raja over the 2G Spectrum scam, said his resignation vindicated their position but refused to give up on the issue as they demanded filing of a case against him to unearth the truth.
Undeterred by the mounting opposition attack on his role in 2G spectrum allocation, Telecom Minister A Raja on Friday ruled out resignation over the issue, saying he will prove that everything has been done according to the law.
This has to be one of the most blatant tricks Raja is pulling off.
Former Telecom Minister A Raja on Tuesday accused the Central Bureau of Investigation in a Delhi court of willfully not filing on record the documents of telecom regulator TRAI in 2G spectrum allocation scam case.
The Congress on Friday indicated that it will not seek any action against Telecom Minister A Raja after raids on the office of Department of Telecom (DoT) in connection with alleged irregularities in allocation of 2G spectrum to new players, saying the FIR only named officials.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Saturday filed a charge-sheet in the Rs 176,000 crore 2G scam in the designated CBI court in Delhi.The chargesheet has named former telecom minister and DMK leader A Raja as the main conspirator. The chargesheet alleged that Raja misused his ministerial position to favour one particular group. Sidhardh Behura and R K Chandolia -- both bureaucrats who served as secretaries to A Raja -- were also named as conspirators in the charge-sheet
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi is likely to visit former telecom minister A Raja inside the Tihar jail early next week.
Telecom Minister A Raja is likely to brief Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a day or two on the changes he wants in BSNL's mega tender to add 45.5 million GSM lines, which was approved by his predecessor Dayanidhi Maran.
Against the backdrop of the finance ministry note on 2G spectrum pricing, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, a key United Progressive Alliance ally, on Thursday maintained that the stand taken by jailed former telecom minister A Raja on the issue has been 'vindicated'.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday sent notices to former telecom minister A Raja and corporate lobbyist Niira Radia asking them to appear before the agency for questioning while grilling former Telecom Regulatory Authority of India chief Pradip Baijal in connection with the 2G spectrum scam.
The court said a 'scam was created when there was none'.
Attorney General G E Vahanvati on Wednesday told a Delhi court that former Telecom Minister A Raja's letter to the prime minister regarding the DoT's policy to be adopted for 2G spectrum allocation was not based on discussion with him and the then External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
Joint parliamentary committee Chairman P C Chacko on Tuesday said the committee, probing the 2G telecom spectrum allocation scam, has called all important witnesses but is yet to take a decision on calling former Telecom Minister A Raja before it.
Yielding to relentless pressure, controversial A Raja on Sunday, resigned as Telecom Minister after being ordered to do so by his party, DMK, in the wake of allegations that he caused a loss of Rs.1.76 lakh crore to the exchequer while allocating 2G Spectrum two years ago.
As former telecom minister A Raja secured bail in the 2G spectrum case, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Tuesday said the case appeared to be getting "diluted". Jayalalithaa was replying to a question from reporters on a Delhi court granting bail to Raja, the prime accused in the case, 15 months after he was sent to jail.
The Central Bureau of Investigation will file this week its first chargesheet into the 2G spectrum scam against former telecom minister A Raja and some of his close aides besides a couple of real estate companies for allegedly defrauding the exchequer and entering into a criminal conspiracy in securing the telecom licenses.
The Central Bureau of Investigation will seek an extension of former telecom minister A Raja's remand, according to a top official of the agency. Raja was arrested in connection with the 2G spectrum scam last week along with his aides R K Chandolia and Siddarth Behura. Raja is scheduled to appear before the CBI court in Patiala house on Tuesday at the end of his five-day custody. The investigating officers said that they have been able to make considerable progress.
"When the time to prosecute A Raja comes, the CBI would have to depend upon the central government. It is the central government, which has to sanction prosecution of Raja. Time alone will tell what happens in the case," he told rediff.com.
On a visit to New Delhi a year after UPA-II assumed office, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on Sunday backed Telecom Minister A Raja and virtually ruled out the demand of the Opposition for his resignation over the 2G spectrum controversy.
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