BJP demands CBI intervention into finance ministry note

The BJP today demanded CBI "intervention" into the "revelation" by a finance ministry note that the telecom ministry could have gone in for auction of 2G spectrum licenses had the then Finance Minister P Chidambaram insisted on this.

"In that case, the 2G scam might not have taken place...This calls for CBI's intervention to investigate the issue," BJP national spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said here.

The document was filed yesterday by Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy, the petitioner in the 2G case, before a Supreme Court bench of Justice GS Singhvi and Justice AK Ganguly, hearing his application seeking a CBI probe into Chidambaram's alleged role in deciding the price of 2G spectrum allocation.

An office memorandum sent to the PMO on March 25 by the finance ministry, headed by Pranab Mukherjee, also suggested that Chidambaram and jailed former telecom minister A Raja had jointly determined the price for the 2G spectrum in 2008.

Rudy asked how Chidambaram could side with Raja and allow him to "steal" Rs1.76 lakh crore from the exchequer.

The BJP had demanded Chidambaram's resignation yesterday.