Sack IT minister Raja, demands Jayalalithaa

AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa today demanded that prime minister Manmohan Singh sack telecom minister A Raja after the Supreme Court declined to interfere in Delhi high court's findings against him in the 2G spectrum allocation.

"The interests of justice will be served only if Raja is removed from his post as Union Minister. Now that he has the Supreme Court's order to back him, the prime minister should not hesitate further to sack Raja," Jayalalithaa said in a statement here.

Only this would give credence to Singh's claim that he is a prime minister with "zero RPT tolerance" for corrupt practices, she said.

Detailing the events leading to the case filed by telecom firm STel, she said the company had approached the court following the Department of Telecom (DoT) "arbitrarily" advancing the cut-off dates for 2G allocation.

On March 12, the apex court had declined to interfere with the adverse findings of the Delhi High Court against DoT and Raja in the issue, saying "We make it clear that the findings reached by the high court is not interfered with in this particular case."
     
Earlier, Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy had issued an "ultimatum" to prime minister Singh, demanding that Raja be sacked by tomorrow following the Supreme Court's decision.

Swamy said he would move the court to obtain a sanction against Raja if the Prime Minister did not give it by the said date.