Former Telecom Minister A Raja ignored the advice of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that the availability of 2G spectrum be assessed before the grant of licences, Central Bureau of India said on Saturday in its first chargesheet filed before a special court in New Delhi.
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.
Jailed former Telecom Minister A Raja on Wednesday told a Delhi court that he would get Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the then finance minister P Chidambaram and the current Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal summoned as witnesses to prove that the government did not incur any loss in the 2G allocation.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and then Finance Minister P Chidambaram were fully in the loop on the 2G spectrum license allocation and had decided along with then Telecom Minister A Raja not to auction them, jailed Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam member of Parliament Kanimozhi told a Delhi court on Tuesday.
With opposition parties in Tamil Nadu raising doubts about the mysterious circumstances of the death of Sadiq Batcha, a key aide of former telecom minister A Raja, the state government on Wednesday decided to transfer his alleged suicide case to the Central Bureau of Intelligence.
The CBI has begun probing if the country's internal security too stood compromised because of the the 2G spectrum allocation to ineligible telecom operators during former Telecom Minister A Raja's tenure. During the last hearing on February 22, the CBI had told the court that it was not aware of the threat posed by allocation of 2G spectrum to some telecom firms which subsequently offloaded their shares to global firms with links to Pakistan.
Former telecom minister A Raja, the prime accused in the 2G scam, was on Wednesday criticised by the Supreme Court for using 'intemperate and objectionable' language in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the issue of spectrum allocation policy.
Raja, in his plea which was filed on Monday, said "remanding of an accused to JC does not require his physical presence as discretion has been vested with the court for extending the same through video-conferencing." He had prayed that considering his security, the proceedings be conducted through video-conferencing.
Wary of being transported with hardcore undertrials in a crowded jail van, former telecom minister A Raja on Monday moved a Delhi court seeking to conduct judicial proceedings through video conferencing in the 2G spectrum allocation scam case.
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.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday questioned former telecom minister A Raja's close aide Sadiq Batcha in connection with its probe into the 2G spectrum scam.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday apprised a Delhi court of its ongoing probe into the 2G spectrum scam following a direction on a private complaint filed by Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy for trial of former Telecom Minister A Raja for his alleged role in the case.
A key witness in the 2G case, who had accused former Telecom Minister A Raja and others of being involved in the scam, on Thursday told a Delhi court that he is facing threat to his life.
Former telecom minister A Raja on Monday sought to rope in Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and the then Finance Minister P Chidamabaram in the 2G scam case, telling a court that the issue of dilution of equity by spectrum licencees was discussed with them.
A Delhi court on Saturday started recording the statement of Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy, who is seeking the prosecution of Home Minister P Chidambaram in the 2G case. Swamy had sought the court's permission to examine witnesses, including senior Central Bureau of Investigation officials, to establish erstwhile finance minister and present Home Minister P Chidambaram's alleged role in the 2G spectrum allocation.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has removed Union Fertiliser Minister M K Alagiri and Textile Minister Dayanidhi Maran from two key sub-committees of the Union Cabinet. Both Alagiri and Maran are leaders of the Congress's ally DMK. In the wake of the multi-crore 2G spectrum scam, involving DMK leader and then telecom minister A Raja, the PM has been careful about allocating sensitive positions to the party's leaders.
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.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday stuck to its demand for a joint parliamentary committee probe into the 2G spectrum allocation, saying the arrest of former Union Telecom Minister A Raja was not enough and his "godfathers" should be exposed.
The Congress on Thursday gave enough indications that there was no trouble to its alliance with Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam despite the party strongly backing former telecom minister A Raja and described the move as the ally's "internal matter".
O P Saini, special judge of the designated Central Bureau of Investigation court in Patiala House, New Delhi, remanded former telecom minister A Raja, his aide R K Chandolia and former telecom secretary S Behura to five days custody as demanded by the investigative agency after one hour legal battle between Akhilesh, CBI's senior public prosecutor, and Ramesh Gupta advocate both for Raja and Chandolia.
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Jayalalithaa on Thursday said nothing short of a joint parliamentary committee probe into the 2G spectrum scam was acceptable to her party. She claimed that former telecom minister A Raja's arrest showed that those backing him have now 'accepted his guilt'. "These parties had initially said Raja was not guilty. But they have now accepted his guilt, following his arrest," she told reporters.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday questioned former Telecom Minister A Raja for the fourth time in connection with the funding and allegedly showing favours to some telecom companies in granting 2G spectrum between October 2007 and 2008.
Union Textile Minister Dayanidhi Maran, who has been implicated by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the 2G scam probe, resigned from his post on Thursday, just hours after attending a meeting of the Union Cabinet.
The Delhi high court on Friday stayed the grant of bail to former telecom minister A Raja's ex-private secretary R K Chandolia, an accused in the 2G case.
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.
Within hours of reports that Mukherjee himself was at the receiving end of such calls, Raja activated his ministry to take steps against such calls that 'encroach' into the privacy of telecom consumers, an issue that has been haunting every single consumer despite the regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's attempts to ban such a nuisance.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday opposed the bail plea of former Telecom Minister A Raja's erstwhile private secretary R K Chandolia, saying that he is a public servant and cannot be treated on par with those granted bail in the 2G case.
The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the central government on the plea seeking cancellation of 2G spectrum licenses allocated during the tenure of former telecom minister A Raja.
Justice Ruma Pal is to be saluted for her courageous dissent of conviction and reminding her peers that they need to put themselves on self-trial. The alternative is for India to sink further into the cesspool of even greater corruption, says C Uday Bhaskar.
A plea was made in the Supreme Court for production of correspondence between ex-CJI KG Balakrishnan, sitting judge H L Gokhale and then Madras High Court judge R Reghupathi who had alleged that former Telecom Minister A Raja attempted to influence him in a criminal case.
Former telecom minister A Raja will appear on December 24 before officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation for questioning in connection with alleged irregularities in the allocation of 2G spectrum to certain telecom firms. CBI officials have sent a notice under Section 160 of the Criminal Procedure Code to Raja to appear before the investigating agency for questioning in the case. "I will cooperate with the investigating agency," Raja told reporters.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley on Wednesday demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for 'failing to take action' against former telecom minister A Raja for over three years in connection with the spectrum scam. Speaking at the massive rally organised by the NDA, Jaitley ridiculed Dr Singh's offer to appear before the PAC. "The PAC has a limited role. It can only go into the statistics and report of the CAG," he said.
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 Central Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday carried out raids at 27 places in Tamil Nadu and seven places in Delhi in connection with its probe in the 2G spectrum scam.The CBI also raided the residence of former chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Pradip Baijal in connection with the scam. CBI sleuths also raided the residence of corporate lobbyist Nira Radia in connection with the probe in 2G spectrum allocation scam.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the Madras high court's order directing suspension of advocate R K Chandramohan from chairmanship of the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry for allegedly attempting to influence a judge by taking former telecom minister A Raja's name.A bench comprising justices D K Jain and H L Dattu also stayed the operation of the high court direction asking the Bar Council of India to initiate disciplinary action against Chandramohan.
Janata Dal Chairman Subramanian Swamy on Wednesday filed a complaint in a Delhi court seeking his inclusion as a public prosecutor in the 2G spectrum case. Swamy is also likely to move the Supreme Court, urging it to direct the Central Bureau of Investigation to name former telecom minister A Raja as an accused in the case.According to him, the agency has already collected substantial evidence against A Raja to include him in the list as an accused.
An emotional M Karunanidhi on Monday met his daughter and Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam member of Parliament Kanimozhi, arrested in the 2G spectrum case, at the Tihar jail in New Delhi and spent nearly 30 minutes with her. He also met former telecom minister A Raja and Kalaingar TV managing director Sharad Kumar, both arrested for their involvement in the scam.
The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha adjourned without transacting any significant business with the government and the opposition sticking to their respective stands on the JPC, which has become the bone of contention between rival sides.
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.
Unrelenting on its demand for a JPC probe into 2-G Spectrum scam, Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance attacked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for giving "repeated clean chits" to former Telecom Minister A Raja and alleged the government was "scared" of embarrassing truths coming out.
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