IANS/New Delhi
The Delhi High Court will hear today former communications minister A Raja’s appeal to dismiss charges against him in the 2G spectrum case on grounds of a bias in the investigations.
Raja, who was arrested in February 2011 and spent 15 months in prison before getting bail, also contends that the special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) judge hearing the case erred in holding that there was illegality in the manner spectrum was allocated.
The plea will come up for hearing before Justice A K Pathak.
Raja also alleged that the charge-sheet filed in the case shows a bias in the investigations as it remained silent on the licences issued during 2003-2007.
“During the period 2003-2007, a total of 51 licences were issued by the DoT (department of telecommunication). These were issued on the same terms and conditions as those issued by the DoT under the petitioner in the year 2008. Yet the charge-sheet has chosen to remain silent on this aspect, which shows the bias in its investigation. The special judge has also ignored this aspect altogether, which is a grave error,” said Raja, a Dravida Munnetra Kazahagam MP, in his petition.
He further said that CBI special judge O P Saini failed to appreciate that the decisions and actions of Raja as communication and information technology minister on the issues relating to allotment and pricing of the second generation spectrum were fully in conformity with the department’s consistent policy.
Raja claimed that successive governments have chosen to allocate telecom licences and spectrum on a basis other than revenue maximisation. The telecom watchdog, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), has consistently taken the view that revenue generation should not be a major determinant of the policy governing the telecom sector, he added.
“There was a conscious decision taken by successive governments to maintain the entry fee at 2001 levels, based on consistent recommendations of TRAI to this effect. The petitioner has merely followed the decisions of his predecessors in this regard. If the petitioner has to be charged with cheating, then each and every minister of communication and IT since 2003 also must face the same charge. In fact, it is to be noted that these were not decisions of the minister alone but were backed by successive cabinets,” he said.
“The trial court failed to appreciate that the central government, who is the alleged victim of the cheating, has consistently maintained in public and in parliament that the loss caused by the socalled 2G scam is nil,” Raja said.
The former minister also maintained that the gain to the public as a result of the government policy during his tenure is real and tangible.
