The development could cause concern to Raja’s party DMK, a key UPA member, particularly since elections are round the corner in Tamil Nadu.
In an unprecedented move, the Supreme Court (SC) issued notices on Monday to telecom minister A Raja, his ministry, CBI and various other investigation agencies in connection with the 2G spectrum scam during UPA-I.
The development could cause concern to Raja’s party DMK, a key UPA member, particularly since elections are round the corner in Tamil Nadu.
The exchequer had suffered an estimated loss of Rs70,000 crore due to the scam.
The notices were issued on a plea filed by NGO Centre for Pubic Interest Litigation (CPIL), which said the Delhi high court gravely erred in rejecting its PIL even though it had substantive material relating to the scam and the minister’s pivotal role in defrauding taxpayers.
A bench of justices GS Singhvi and Asok Kumar Ganguly questioned CBI as to why it registered an FIR against an unnamed accused when an on-record conversation between Raja and influential consultant Nira Radia hinted at the minister’s possible involvement in the scam.
Directorate General of Income Tax (DGIT) had written to CBI on the basis of specific information received from Central Board of Direct Taxes that phones of Radia and aides were put under observation after obtaining permission from the home secretary. Their conversations revealed she might have had some role with regard to the award of telecom licences, DGIT said.
After perusing the text of the conversations, SC issued notices to CBI and others, asking why CPIL’s petition shouldn’t be admitted.
Seeking a CBI probe into the allegations, CPIL lawyer Prashant Bhushan said in terms of the money that had been swindled, it was easily the country’s biggest scam.
A sitting Union minister has been found to be directly involved and tapes of his conversations with corporate middlemen are available, he said, adding that the entire investigation being carried out by CBI had been scuttled to protect vested political interests, corporate and other middlemen.
Recently, 3G spectrum was allocated to telecom operators through a transparent auction which fetched a whopping Rs1 lakh crore, while the 2G allocation had caused a massive loss to the exchequer, Bhushan said.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}