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Even as speculation was rife about the Home Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, offering to resign, the Congress President, Ms Sonia Gandhi, held separate meetings with him as well as the Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, on Monday.
The meetings held at her 10 Janpath residence came in the wake of a controversial Finance Ministry note to the Prime Minister's Office, suggesting Mr Chidambaram's alleged complicity in the 2G spectrum scam. This note, ‘seen' by Mr Mukherjee, was part of the documents filed in the Supreme Court by the Janata Party President, Dr Subramanian Swamy.
On his arrival from the US on Monday, Mr Mukherjee told reporters at the airport that a full-fledged press conference will be held after the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, returns from New York. Dr Singh is expected back on Tuesday.
Earlier, the Law Minister, Mr Salman Khurshid, sought to downplay the controversy over the Finance Ministry note. He said there was nothing to worry regarding the document, adding that inferences drawn from it were “not correct”.
‘Call Chidambaram as witness'
Meanwhile, during a hearing of the 2G case in the Special Court, counsel for Mr Raja, Mr Sushil Kumar, said that Mr Chidambaram should be examined as a witness in the 2G case. Mr Chidambaram was the Finance Minister in 2008 when the 2G spectrum was allocated during Mr Raja's tenure as Telecom Minister.
Mr Kumar said that Mr Chidambaram was acquainted with all the facts and circumstances of the 2G spectrum allocation, adding, however, that he was not for making Mr Chidambaram an accused. He said the CBI should have recorded Mr Chidambaram's statement on the advice given by him on an issue relating to the 2G spectrum licencees — regarding foreign investment in the telecom sector — in the presence of the Prime Minister.
He added that the 2G spectrum allocation was a Cabinet decision and not taken by Mr Raja alone. Mr Kumar said the court can also take a call to summon the Prime Minister as witness as the Government had said that there was no loss to the exchequer due to the 2G spectrum allocation.
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