Chidambaram’s alleged complicity in 2G scam to be decided Saturday
February 3rd, 2012 - 7:01 pm ICT by IANS ( Leave a comment )
New Delhi, Feb 3 (IANS) A court here will rule Saturday whether or not Home Minister P. Chidambaram, who was the finance minister when former communications minister allocated 122 telecom licenses that have now been cancelled by the Supreme Court, should be made a co-accused in the 2G spectrum scam.
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Judge O.P. Saini had reserved his order for Saturday after the last hearing Jan 21 after Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy, who has made the plea for making Chidambaram a co-accused, concluded his final arguments.
The Supreme Court, while cancelling the 122 licenses Thursday, left it to the trial court to decide on Swamy’s plea.
Swamy, while deposing against Chidambaram before Saini, had said that former communications minister A. Raja committed irregularities in connivance with Chidambaram in alloting the licenses.
He said the decision on pegging spectrum prices based on 2001 rates was jointly taken by Raja and Chidambaram.
Swamy has submitted documents, including evidence extracted from a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report, before the court showing Chidambaram’s alleged complicity in the case.
Swamy has also placed on record the file relating to UASL (Unified Access Service Licence) policy regarding sale of equity that he has received from the CBI after the court’s direction last November.
The file was seized by the CBI in October 2009, but the agency did not place it on record with the chargesheet in the 2G case.
Swamy was allowed by the trial court Dec 8, 2011 to lead the evidence on his plea seeking Chidambaram’s prosecution.
Swmay has sought to prosecute Chidambaram for various offences including criminal misconduct, under the Prevention of Corruption Act and other criminal laws. He says Chidambaran is also guilty of breaching national security by not disclosing the fact that Etisalat and Telenor, who had recieved the licenses, were blacklisted companies.
Swamy has also alleged that despite being ineligible, Unitech Wireless and Swan Telecom were awarded licences and were allowed to offload their shares to Etisalat and Telenor.
Raja is among the 14 people, including corporate honchos, who have been arrested in the scam. Kanimozhi, a DMK Rajya Sabha member and daughter of former Tamil Nadu chief minister M. Karunanidhi, was also arrested in the case.
- 2G: Swamy submits documents against Chidambaram (Lead) - Jan 07, 2012
- 2G case: Order reserved on Swamy's plea (Lead) - Dec 03, 2011
- Raja committed offence in active connivance with Chidambaram: Swamy (Roundup) - Dec 17, 2011
- 2G: Swamy deposes against Chidambaram (Second Lead) - Dec 17, 2011
- Relief for Chidambaram as court dismisses Swamy's plea (Second Lead) - Feb 04, 2012
- Timeline of the 2G case - Feb 04, 2012
- 2G scam: A chronology - Feb 02, 2012
- Order reserved on Swamy plea seeking Chidambaram's prosecution - Jan 21, 2012
- Chidambaram verdict: Who said what - Feb 04, 2012
- Swamy's plea to make Chidambaram accused in 2G deferred - Nov 08, 2011
- Order reserved on Swamy plea for Chidambaram's trial (Lead) - Jan 22, 2012
- 2G: Swamy submits documents against Chidambaram - Jan 07, 2012
- 2G transactions known to PM, Chidambaram: Raja (Lead) - Jul 25, 2011
- Will appeal against judgement: Swamy - Feb 04, 2012
- Never-say-die Swamy 'will appeal' against judgement (Lead) - Feb 04, 2012
Tags: access service, cag report, cbi, central bureau of investigation, complicity, comptroller, connivance, criminal misconduct, etisalat, finance minister, home minister, irregularities, last november, p chidambaram, prevention of corruption act, saini, service licence, special judge, subramanian swamy, telecom licenses