2G scam accused cite HC order, want trial stayed

Continuance of trial would mean contempt of court: Raja
New Delhi: Former telecom minister A Raja and other accused in the 2G scam on Friday pushed for a stay on the proceedings of the case in a Delhi court in the wake of the ruling of the Gauhati High Court holding as “unconstitutional” the setting up of the CBI.

In a related development, Congress leader Sajjan Kumar wanted the court to declare as “illegal” the probe and charge sheets filed by the CBI in a 1984 anti Sikh riots case against him in the wake of the High Court verdict.

Raja and other 2G accused including top corporate executives said continuance of the trial in the case which has been probed by CBI would amount to contempt of court.

“Before we proceed today I want to mention that the nation today woke up with banner headlines in newspapers that the CBI is not police.

“By coincidence the chief Investigating Officer happens to be in the court today and in view of the Gauhati High Court judgment, we should not proceed with the proceedings otherwise it would be a contempt of court,” Majeed Memom, appearing for accused Swan Telecom Promoter Vinod Goenka, told the court. “Sir, I can show you the judgment here,” Raja’s counsel Manu Sharmahe told Special CBI Judge O P Saini who declined their oral plea to halt the trial and went on with the testimony of Chief Investigating Officer and CBI SP Vivek Priyadarshi. “I have read the newspaper but I cannot go by the media reports,” the judge said.

At the end of the day, the defence lawyers placed before the court judgement of the high court and said they will move a formal application in this regard in the court on Monday.

In its judgement, the High Court has struck down the 1963 resolution through which the Central Bureau Investigation (CBI) was set up and held all its actions “unconstitutional”.
The Centre has decided to file an appeal in the Supreme Court against the High Court verdict.

Kumar’s counsel mentioned the judgement before District Judge J R Aryan and said if CBI itself is unconstitutional, its probe and charge sheets are also illegal. The judge, however, said the effect of this judgement is not clear at this stage as it is too early and asked the counsel to proceed with the case which will now come up for hearing on November.

The court had earlier framed various charges including murder and rioting against Kumar, Brahmanand Gupta, Peru, Khushal Singh and Ved Prakash in connection with killing of a man in Sultanpuri area in the riots. —PTI
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Published Date:  Nov 09, 2013
http://epaper.dnaindia.com/story.aspx?id=54883&boxid=33942&ed_date=2013-11-09&ed_code=820009&ed_page=10

2G JPC split down middle on PM role : IN RUN-UP TO 2014, TROUBLES MULTIPLY FOR UPA

New Delhi: Faced with a serious risk of the rejection of the JPC report on the spectrum scam, which gave a clean chit to the PM and the finance minister, the Congress on Tuesday aggressively lobbied the SP to prevent it from joining parties determined to change the draft prepared by the Congress’s P C Chacko.

With 15 members of the 30-strong panel set to insist on significant changes in the report, which pinned the blame on the NDA and ex-telecom minister A Raja, the vote of the SP member on the panel, Shailendra Kumar, will be decisive in settling whether the PM and the finance minister attract the blame. TNN

CAG picks holes in rural job scheme
New Delhi: The UPA’s flagship rural job guarantee scheme seems to be losing popularity, with the number of rural poor opting for it coming down.

Rural household employment fell from 54 days in 2009-10 to 43 days in 2011-12 even as the scheme aims to enhance livelihood security by providing at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a year. In fact, Maharashtra, UP and Bihar, which are home to nearly 50% of India’s below the poverty line population, accounted for only 20% of total expenditure under the scheme. The performance in 2012-13 is believed to be even worse. TNN
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Raja may get hearing on 2G from PAC

New Delhi:Denied a hearing by the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on telecom, DMK leader A Raja might get a chance to tell his version of the 2G story before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

The PAC’s 2G report remains an “unfinished agenda” as it was not formally adopted after Congress members protested its conclusions blaming PM Manmohan Singh and finance minister P Chidambaram for lack of oversight.

The recent controversy over Raja being indicted by the JPC without being allowed to present his views has brought the PAC’s older report in focus. TNN

PAC on 2G: DMK’s exit may make things difficult for UPA
New Delhi: The DMK’s exit from the ruling coalition has also tilted the balance slightly away from the UPA in the PAC and a new sense of opposition unity can propel the 2G report back onto the committee’s active agenda.

The report did not get an official tag after a PAC meeting was adjourned without a ruling from senior BJP leader M M Joshi who heads the committee. Joshi thereafter sent the report to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar.

The Congress and its allies had then demanded a vote on the report’s adoption, a move that came back to haunt the ruling party in the JPC where half the members have threatened to “reject” the official draft’s clean chit to PM Manmohan Singh and finance minister P Chidambaram. Sources said the 2G report has not been brought back for the PAC’s consideration given the tempers it has raised in the past, but it was up to the panel to decide whether it needs to hear more witnesses to add to the report.

Joshi had been keen that the committee examine T K A Nair, former principal secretary to the PM (currently secretary in PMO), former cabinet secretary K M Chandrasekhar and A Raja. The BJP leader had argued that the PMO and the cabinet secretariat could respond to Raja’s claims that he had not acted in isolation and kept the PM and Chidambaram informed about both policy and allocation procedures.

Clashes in PAC meetings ensured that none of the three were able to brief the committee, but the Congress’s opposition to the draft ensured it could be brought back to life from the suspended animation it has been in.

Whether the committee does get around to calling Raja is a contentious issue, as such a move is bound to reignite the acrimony that marked proceedings when the 2G report was being considered. However, this time, the DMK has switched sides over Raja being denied a hearing by the JPC.
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2G Scam: Raja’s denial may further stoke JPC fire

New Delhi: Former telecom minister and key 2G accused A Raja has denied the allegation that he “misled” PM Manmohan Singh saying he took no unilateral decision and kept Singh informed at every step.

“I took no unilateral decisions. Every major decision was taken after consultations with DoT officials, and then with Prime Minister, finance minister and external affairs
minister,” Raja said in a fresh missive to the JPC chairperson P C Chacko. Raja said he “personally discussed” with the Prime Minister all issues, including entry fee, nonauction of spectrum, first-come-first-serve policy and processing of applications till September 25, 2007.

The government has refuted his allegations against the PM, saying it was for the ex-minister to explain if some telecom firms were tipped off about the decision to issue licences on compliance of letters of intent (LoI).

However,with the Opposition up in arms over the JPC draft giving a clean chit to the PM while accusing the Vajpayee government of giving away revenue of Rs 40,080 crore, Raja’s letter will add to the political heat.

Raja said he met the PM on several occasions between November, 2007 and January, 2008 and told him about the telecom ministry’s decision to issue licences on basis of compliance of LoI. The decision to award licences by the LoI method has been criticized as it has been alleged that the procedure was manipulated to favour select telecom firms. Raja claims licences were issued only after PM approved the LoI route for applications being processed.

Privilege notice against Chacko
New Delhi: Outraged at the manner in which the JPC draft report on the 2G spectrum scam was leaked to the media even before it reached most of the 30 panel members, BJP, Left and DMK members submitted privilege notices against chairman P C Chacko in both Houses of Parliament on Monday. TNN
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TIMES NEWS NETWORK
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2G Scam: CBI questions timing of CD, says wrong to say 2G trial hit

A day after a CD containing alleged conversations between the CBI's public prosecutor in the 2G scam, A K Singh, and Unitech MD Sanjay Chandra surfaced, the agency questioned the "timing" of the leak, hinting at "corporate espionage".

The CBI has set up a team to look into any setback to the 2G trial because of the episode, following allegations that Singh could have tried to help Chandra. The CD was aired by news channel CNN-IBN.

"We have registered a preliminary enquiry and cannot rule out corporate espionage. The conversation appears to have been recorded in September-October last year. The fact that it was aired just before the JPC meeting and coming Parliament session cannot be ignored," a top CBI official said.

The agency also defended its prosecutor, saying there was no forensic evidence yet to condemn him. "It is wrong to say that the investigations and trial in 2G case have been compromised. Singh has been associated with several important CBI cases in the past and we have to wait for forensic evidence before taking any action against him. He is not the chief public prosecutor in 2G. He is one of the assisting public prosecutors to U U Lalit, who has been appointed by the court as the special public prosecutor," said an officer.

The agency will be sending the voice samples of Singh and Chandra for forensic examination. Under the CrPC, a person's consent is required before taking samples of his voice.

"We have to wait till the CD's genuineness is proved. Once we find prima facie evidence, we will move to the court to seek permission for voice samples," the officer said.

He also added that the CBI cannot comment on the authenticity of the tape. "It is not clear whether someone has illegally taped the phone or recorded the conversation with a sophisticated device."

Giving out the sequence of events that led to the removal of the public prosecutor, the top official said, "The CBI received a CD containing the conversation between two persons from a source 10 days back. After initial probe, we registered a PE and removed Singh from the 2G case." The CBI refused to reveal the identity of the source.

This was also confirmed by JPC chairman P C Chacko, who said that CBI Director Ranjit Sinha had informed the panel members that the tape was received by a DIG of the CBI from "a source" 10 days ago. The DIG in turn had handed it over to the director. Sinha appeared before the JPC Tuesday and was examined by JPC members.

Responding to a pointed query on whether the tapping was the result of an operation by the counter-intelligence wing of the CBI or someone else, Chacko said he could say from what transpired at the meeting that it was not the work of "a government agency".

Sinha is learnt to have also told the JPC that prima-facie the voices on the tape were those of Chandra and A K Singh.

DMK wants Raja called to JPC

As JPC chairman P C Chacko sought to conclude the process of examining witnesses Tuesday, DMK members T R Baalu and Tiruchi Siva made a forceful plea for summoning former minister and their party colleague A Raja as a witness. Sources disclosed that DMK members also demanded that Shahid Balwa of Swan Telecom be called. Chacko told the media that he would be considering the matter as well as consulting other members of the committee informally.

The JPC chief added that experience had shown that calling a person who is an accused in a court case serves no purpose because he cannot make any fresh revelations before the committee. He added that should Raja be called, he would be the last witness. However, if one former minister is called, it would have implications vis-a-vis other former ministers too.
Courtesy:
Express news service : New Delhi, Wed Feb 13 2013, 09:33 hrs
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/cbi-questions-timing-of-cd-says-wrong-to-say-2g-trial-hit/1073423/0