Mr A. Raja, an accused in the 2G case, on Wednesday told a Special Court that the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, the then Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, and the present Telecom Minister, Mr Kapil Sibal, could be summoned as witnesses to prove that there was no loss to the exchequer due to the spectrum allocation.
Advocate Mr Sushil Kumar, representing Mr Raja, told the court that once it is proved that there was no loss caused to the exchequer during Mr Raja's tenure as Telecom Minister, the other charges of conspiracy and cheating against him will also go.
He said Mr Raja would move an application to obtain certain documents from the CBI which had not yet been placed before the court.
During the proceedings, Mr Raja told the court that his initiative to price spectrum beyond 6.2 Mhz for incumbent players and 4.4 Mhz for new ones had attracted animosity from certain quarters of the industry. “It was my brainchild to ask incumbent operators to pay for spectrum. What I did in public interest is now being used against me,” Mr Raja said.
Mr Kumar alleged that a cartel of companies made Mr Raja pay the price as those policies were not in their favour.
On the allegation of bribe taking against Mr Raja, Mr Kumar said it is for the CBI to give an explanation as to why a Minister would take bribe after a gap of many months of spectrum allocation, and that too over many instalments, through cheques and even in the form of a loan with interest.
“These are childish allegations,” Mr Kumar said.
Referring to some media reports alleging kickback received on his behalf, Mr Raja challenged the CBI, Enforcement Directorate and Income-Tax Department to show even Re 1 of bribe that his wife or family received.
The CBI had alleged that a DB Group company had paid Rs 200-crore bribe to Kalaignar TV through a circuitous route in return for ensuring that Swan Telecom was among those that got 2G spectrum. Mr Raja also denied having conspired with Swan or any other company for showing favour while giving licences.
The CBI has so far not been able to prove anything substantial against Mr Raja – regarding the motive or reward for grant of licence to other companies such as Unitech, Mr Kumar said.
Pointing out that several companies had obtained licences during Mr Raja's tenure, Mr Kumar said, “How many trials would I (Mr Raja) be facing, as for the last two years the CBI has failed to decide the fate of the seized documents pertaining to other telecom companies.”
He also said all the decisions on the 2G spectrum policy and allocation were collectively taken in the Government and not by Mr Raja alone.