The Supreme Court has questioned the government why it didn’t take action on prime minister Manmohan Singh’s letter to the then telecom minister A Raja who allocated the spectrum arbitrarily in 2008.
Raising strong doubts over the intention of the UPA-I in checking the 2G scam in 2008, the Supreme Court has questioned the government why it didn’t take action on prime minister Manmohan Singh’s letter to the then telecom minister A Raja who allocated the spectrum arbitrarily in 2008.
A bench of Justice GS Singhvi and Justice HL Dattu said on Thursday that if the prime minister’s office (PMO) had taken action, the mega scam running into Rs1.76 lakh crore could have been averted.
During the inconclusive hearing on a batch of petitions filed by jailed telecom honchos seeking bail, the judges referred to the PM’s letter to Raja in November 2007 rejecting the minister’s inclination to adopt a ‘first-come-first-served’ system despite the PM recommending “auction” of the scarce spectrum.
Responding to the PM’s letter that stressed on transparency and fair play, Raja had written back to him saying the concerns expressed by him would be addressed.
In response to the judges’ concerns, additional solicitor general Haren Raval said even if action had been taken, criminality could not have been prevented.
The judges have already asked the government why it wants to oppose the bail petition of the scam accused, including DMK members Raja and Kanimozhi, since they have been charge sheeted already, and are eligible for bail.
Earlier in December too, the court had taken exception to jailed Raja’s decision to defy the PM as doing so showed utter disrespect to the PM.
“Nothing would have happened if he had waited for three-four days after the letter from the PM. Is this the way a government functions?” the judges had lambasted the axed minister.
The judges had also expressed shock at the language used by Raja in his letter to the PM on November 2, 2007 saying it would be “unfair, discriminatory, arbitrary and capricious” to auction 2G spectrum. “Look at the gloss of the language,” the judges had remarked.
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