New Delhi:
Adding a new dramatic high to the telecom scam, a key witness today broke down in court and claimed that he was facing a threat to his life. Asservartham Achary claimed that he was being threatened by a man, identified as Jai Prakash, who was present during the hearing.
Mr Prakash, who was then detained, said that he had been attending court for weeks and works as a clerk for Reliance-ADAG executives who are on trial. Mr Prakash also said that he does not know Mr Achary, who once served as a key aide to A Raja, the former Telecom Minister who is in jail for designing and executing India's biggest swindle.
Mr Achary told the court that he and his family members were being threatened since August 6. He said that the Delhi Police provided him with a Personal Security Officer (PSO) after he informed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is probing the case, in September.
Special Judge O P Saini, who is handling the trial, handed over Mr Prakash to the Delhi Police for interrogation after he was detained from outside the courtroom. The police, however, released Mr Prakash in the evening saying nothing suspicious was found during the interrogation.
Mr Achary told Judge Saini that Mr Prakash was sitting with Mr Raja's ex-private secretary R K Chandolia in the morning.
Mr Chandolia is one of the three public servants facing trial for criminal conspiracy and breach of public trust, the others being Mr Raja himself and former Telecom Secretary Siddhartha Behura. Mr Chandolia was granted bail by the trial court on December 1. Mr Raja and Mr Behura are still in jail.
Appearing in court as the seventh prosecution witness, Mr Achary has testified that Mr Raja had a long and close relationship with DB Realty and Unitech, two companies which the former Telecom Minister allegedly favoured while granting telecom licenses and spectrum.
(Read: Confessions of Achary)Mr Raja allegedly gave them out-of-turn licenses that were under-valued. The executives of both companies were released last month on bail from Tihar Jail.
Mr Achary, who was attached with the former minister from October 1999 to October 2008, is now being cross-examined by the counsel for Mr Raja. He has already been questioned by Mr Ram Jethmalani, who is appearing for DMK MP Kanimozhi. She is currently out on bail.
During the course of his testimony, Mr Achary has told the court that Mr Raja allocated spectrum "in the same way as ration cards are given in Tamil Nadu.