The Supreme Court on Monday reserved its order on the plea for a probe into the alleged role of Home Minister P Chidambaram in the 2G scam after a spirited defence of him from government and the Central Bureau of Investigation, both of which maintained that no case has been made out against him.
Former Telecom Minister A Raja on Friday opposed in a Delhi court the fresh plea of Central Bureau Investigation seeking framing of a charge for criminal breach of trust in the 2G spectrum allocation case against 17 accused, saying it was an attempt to keep him in jail.
The Congress and the central government heaved a sigh of relief on Tuesday with the Supreme Court holding that the prime minister was not obliged to sanction any permission to Dr Subramanian Swamy for prosecuting Telecom Minister A Raja, who has since resigned, in the 2G spectrum scam.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani on Wednesday demanded that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should immediately respond to the Supreme Court's observation on the delay in the prosecution of former telecom minister A Raja in the 2G spectrum allocation issue. "The PM should immediately respond to what the Supreme Court has said on Raja issue," Advani said. He said, "We are demanding a probe by a joint parliamentary committee into the issue in Parliament."
The Communist Party of India - Marxist may support the Bharatiya Janata Party's demand for a probe by the Joint Parliamentary Committee into the allegations of corruption against former telecom minister A Raja."We are of the view the government must agree to the Opposition's demand for holding a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the telecom scam. If that cannot be done, than the govt must come up with an alternative mechanism to unearth the truth," said a CPM leader.
Former Telecom Minister A Raja on Friday told a Delhi court that he would not respond to the Central Bureau of Investigation's fresh plea to invoke additional charge of criminal breach of trust against all the accused till the agency stated that its probe in the 2G spectrum allocation scam was on or over.
Amidst the flurry of allegations against former telecom minister A Raja and the strong indictment of his handling of 2G spectrum allocation, the controversy is taking a dramatic new turn with hitherto unpublished documents indicating that Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh may have some clarifications to make.
The Comptroller and Auditor General's report on the 2G spectrum scam has been tabled in Parliament. The report was tabled in the Rajya Sabha by Minister of State for Finance (EB&I) Namo Narayan Meena. The report was placed in the Loks Sabha by Minister of State for Finance (Revenue) SS Palanimanickam.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday hit out at Opposition parties for stalling the proceedings of Parliament, after their demand for a probe by the Joint Parliamentary Committee into the spectrum scandal was not accepted by the government.Reacting to a question on whether Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would make a statement on the resignation of Telecom Minister A Raja over the 2G spectrum scam, Pranab lost his cool.
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.
Sources said the decision was taken after the top Congress leadership met in Delhi on Sunday to discuss the issue anticipating uproar in Parliament on Monday by the opposition, which has been demanding Telecom Minister A Raja's removal.
Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa, chargesheeted in the 2G spectrum scam, today told a Delhi court that the CBI should have named Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as one of the witnesses in the case.
The ED in its status report said investigation was in progress regarding the involvement of five foreign companies in the 2G scam which are registered in Virgin Island.
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.
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.
Amid growing attack on Telecom Minister A Raja over alleged scam in spectrum allocation, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected to take a decision on his continuance in the Union Cabinet after his return from Seoul on Friday, highly placed sources said.
The Central Bureau of Investigation, in its second chargesheet likely to be filed on Monday, may name Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi, wife Dayalu Ammal and several others for allegedly getting benefits out of the allocation of 2G spectrum to certain telecom firms.
The latest row -- termed as independent India's largest financial scam -- is centered on the allocation of scare 2G spectrum at throwaway prices.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday circumvented all controversial domestic political issues, including those that surround Telecom Minister A Raja, Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan's alleged role in the Adarsh Society scam, and the Commonwealth Games fiasco, but assured that he would look into the matter once he returns to India and then make any meaningful comment on it.
Senior advocate Uday Lalit was on Monday appointed as special public prosecutor for the trial in 2G case involving former telecom minister A Raja and others by the Supreme Court ending uncertainty triggered by government by objecting to his name on technical grounds.
Former Telecom Minister A Raja's brother has been arrested on charges of 'bribing' voters in Perumbalur district in the run up to the April 13 Tamil Nadu assembly polls, police said on Monday.
A day after the Central Bureau of Investigation registered a case into the death of Sadiq Batcha, a close aide of former Telecom minister A Raja, arrested in connection with the 2G scam, the agency on Wednesday conducted an investigation at the deceased's house.
All the accused, including the three telecom firms and their promoters, proprietors and top executives, moved the court of Special CBI Judge O P Saini seeking direction to the investigating agency to file the TRAI report, which has said there was no loss to the exchequer in allocation of 2G spectrum.
Attorney General Goolam E Vahnavati and corporate lobbyist Niira Radia are among the 125 witnesses listed in the Central Bureau of Investigation chargesheet in the 2G spectrum scam.
An over 80,000 page first chargesheet with annexures will be filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation on Saturday in the 2G spectrum scam case against former Telecom Minister A Raja, some of his close aides and a couple of real estate companies for allegedly defrauding the exchequer and entering into a criminal conspiracy for securing telecom licenses.
CBI said Swan Telecom and Loop Telecom were allegedly used as front companies by Reliance Group and Essar respectively.
Janata Party Chief Subramanian Swamy on Monday told a Central Bureau of Investigation court dealing with the 2G spectrum case involving former telecom minister A Raja that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi should be made an accused in the case.
Notwithstanding rejection of his resignation by the Tamil Nadu government, Dr V Dekal, who performed the post-mortem on the body of Sadiq Batcha, a close aide of former telecom minister A Raja, filed his nomination on Saturday for the April 13 Assembly polls as an independent.
In a development that may help jailed former Telecom Minister's A Raja's defence in court, the telecom regulator has informed the CBI that Trai did not recommend the auction of 2G spectrum in 2007, implying that there was no loss to the exchequer in the award of licences.
"The death was caused due to asphyxia but the cause of that cannot be confirmed until the forensic report is received," he told mediapersons, adding that the entire autopsy was videographed. A team of doctors performed the autopsy at Royapettah Hospital for nearly three hours starting 10 am.
The mysterious death of former telecom minister A Raja's close aide Sadiq Batcha was on Thursday brought to the notice of the Supreme Court, which agreed to hear the plea for a Central Bureau of Investigation probe in the matter.
Sadiq Batcha, a key aide of former telecom minister A Raja, is said to have committed suicide at his residence in Chennai on Wednesday.
Chargesheets will be filed against former telecom minister A Raja and two companies by March 31 for their alleged involvement in the 2G spectrum allocation case, the Central Bureau of Investigation told the Supreme Court on Wednesday, which asked the agency to appoint a suitable senior advocate as special public prosecutor in the trial.
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."
In a U-turn, former Telecom Minister A Raja on Tuesday told a Delhi court that he did not seek to implicate Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the then Finance Minister P Chidambaram in the 2G case.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has decided to question K Kanimozhi, daughter of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Karunanidhi and Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament, in connection with the 2G scam. The decision to summon Kanimozhi was taken soon after a special CBI court sent former telecom minister A Raja to Tihar Jail for 14 days in judicial custody.Sources in CBI confirmed that Kanimozhi would be asked to appear before the agency before March 1.
The government auditor CAG had estimated a presumptive loss of up to Rs 1.76 lakh crore (Rs 1.76 trillion) because of sale of spectrum in 2008 at 2001 prices.
Former Telecom Minister A Raja was sent to CBI remand for three more days by a Delhi court which also extended the custody of Swan telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa for four days in the 2G spectrum case after the CBI said it wanted to confront them on the money trail.
The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the government to constitute a special court to exclusively deal with the 2G spectrum scam that has caused a loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore (Rs 1.76 trillion) to the exchequer.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday night arrested Dynamix Balwas group managing director Shahid Usman Balwa in connection with the 2G spectrum allocation scam.
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