New Delhi: PR executive Niira Radia was questioned by the CBI at her farmhouse in South Delhi today in connection with the 2G scam. Radia is alleged to have used her political contacts - including former Telecom Minister A Raja - to get telecom licenses for her clients. CBI sources say that she could be charged with trying to influence a public servant.
Usually, the CBI summons people for interrogation to its headquarters. However, sources in the agency say that the criminal procedure code dictate that women should not be questioned at a police establishment. A woman sleuth was among those who met with Radia for her three hour q-and-a session today.
Radia's lawyers maintain she has done nothing illegal. She is expected to be questioned again soon.
Radia, who represents some of India's biggest companies through her PR firms, is accused of lobbying hard to ensure Raja returned as Telecom Minister in 2009 after the Congress-led UPA won the general elections. Radia's phones were tapped in 2008 and 2009 - the government has told the Supreme Court that it sanctioned the tapping on the basis of a complaint that questioned the scale and fortune of Radia's massive business empire. What started out as an income tax-related case has built up to a Godzilla of a controversy.
In 2008, Raja gave mobile licenses to companies that were new to the telecom sector. Last month, the government's auditor said Raja's policies cost the government close to 1.76 lakh crores. The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) faulted Raja for undervaluing spectrum to favour companies who were largely ineligible for 2g spectrum. The seething assessment forced Raja to resign from the government.
Radia's many conversations with Raja, as also chats with clients like Ratan Tata, are among 5900 phone transcripts now being studied by the CBI as it tries to indict the different bureaucrats, politicians and industrialists who may have colluded in the 2G scam. Tata has sued the government in the Supreme Court for leaking the tapes to the media - he has alleged invasion of privacy. Tata has said he has no objection to any investigation, and is happy to cooperate with the government, but he believes the government should identify and punish those within who allowed the Radia tapes to be shared with the media.
The 2G scam has been used by the Opposition to attack the government and in particular the Prime Minister for shielding corruption. The Opposition wants a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), which would consist of members of different political parties, to conduct a formal inquiry into the scam. However, the government has said this is not required because several inquiries by the CBI and agencies like the Enforcement Directorate are already in progress.
The PM has said that in order to prove that he "has nothing to hide", he is willing to appear before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), an unprecedented move. Headed by the BJP's Murli Manohar Joshi, the PAC will follow up on the report of the government's auditor on the 2G scam. However, the Opposition says that this is not sufficient. The PAC, it argues, has a mandate limited to the auditor's report, and the scale of the 2G scam demands an unrestricted inquiry. (
Read: PM says willing to appear before PAC |
Congress suffers from BJP phobia, says Jaitley)