New Delhi:
The Centre was put in a spot today when the Supreme Court sought to know why no action was taken on a letter written by the Prime Minister on November 2, 2007, to then Telecom Minister A Raja, recommending auction of 2G spectrum. (
Read: Prime Minister's letter to A Raja)
Mr Raja chose to allot spectrum on a first-come-first-served basis instead of auctioning it and is charged with having caused the exchequer huge loss. He is accused of rewriting rules to favour some telecom companies and for undervaluing the spectrum and gifting it at no charge along with mobile network licenses to companies that were ineligible. The DMK leader is in jail in the 2G scam case.
The court suggested today that if action had been taken on the PM's letter, the 2G scam could perhaps have been prevented. The gravity of the crime, the court said, could have been minimized and charges could have been substantially different.
Apparently seeking to distance the PM from A Raja's actions, Additional Solicitor General Haren Rawal said, "the charges of criminality would have still remained because of the decision taken by the then Telecom Minister."
The Supreme Court was hearing the bail pleas of two corporate honchos in jail in the 2G scam, Sanjay Chandra and Vinod Goenka.
In court, the Centre also made a clarification on Law Minister Salman Khurshid's remarks on investment saying, "The minister's comments were not case-specific. He did not refer to the present case in any way. Whenever the government or CBI wants to take a stand, it does so through an affidavit or through its counsel. The Minister's remarks were a result of a spontaneous response to questions from the media which were inevitable. It was not calculated. "
Mr Khurshid had said in an interview that investment in India was suffering because businessmen were kept in jail. The Supreme Court had expressed its displeasure yesterday at the minister's comment and said if they were true "it is disturbing." The apex court had asked, "Are wasting our time? If you file a memo, please release them, we will release them [on bail]."