Raja claimed that he had for the first time heard through the Madras high court judgement that his name had been "dragged" in the case.
Former telecom minister A Raja today claimed that he had never authorised any person to speak or negotiate with judges on his behalf in any case after the Madras high court suspended from the bar council a top lawyer for allegedly attempting to influence a judge by taking his name.
"I have faith in judiciary as a lawyer and citizen. I never interfered with the judiciary. I never authorised any person including (suspended lawyer RK) Chandramohan, to speak or to negotiate on my behalf to any judge in any case," Raja, who had to quit from the Cabinet in the wake of the second generation mobile telephony spectrum scam, told PTI.
He said, "In public life, I have friends and supporters but I never attempted interfering with the judicial process through someone".
Asked if he was on the line when Chandramohan handed over the phone to justice S Reghupati, the DMK leader said, "I was not on the line. I am not aware of it."
He claimed that he had for the first time heard through the high court judgement that his name had been "dragged" in the case.
"As a lawyer and as a former minister I know about the independence of the judiciary under the Constitution. I have never worked to break the Constitution. I am a law-abiding citizen. Whether I am a minister or not, law is supreme," Raja said.
On his name cropping up in Justice Reghupati's letter, Raja said, "That is upto Justice Reghupati... I am not a party to anything.... he never said I spoke with him".
Maintaining that he was person of "integrity", he said "I have my own defamation case before the Madras high court (against a magazine). When my interim application for a stay in the case was dismissed with cost, I preferred to appeal to a division bench which gave an order in my favour.
"This shows my integrity."
He refused to comment on the 2G mobile spectrum allocation case, saying the matter was subjudice.
A division bench of the high court comprising justices FM Ibrahim Khalifulla and MM Sundaresh, today said the status of Chandramohan, a member and subsequently as chairman of the bar council of Tamil Nadu and Pondichery, shall stand suspended forthwith.
Disposing of a petition by a lawyer, the bench appended a portion of a letter written by a former judge of the court Justice S Reghupati, who had reported that Chandramohan had entered his chamber last year and pleaded that the case of a father and a son, accused in a marks scandal case in Puducherry, for anticipatory bail be considered favourably as they were "family friends of a Union minister by name Raja".
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