New Delhi/Chennai, Mar. 24 (ANI): Former telecom minister A Raja, the main accused in 2G spectrum scam, has told the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was in the loop over policy decisions related to 2G spectrum allocation, and has accused Attorney General G.E. Vahanvati of telling a "series of untruths" against him.
Responding to a questionnaire sent by the JPC, Raja said Prime Minister Singh and former External Affairs Minister and now President of India Pranab Mukherjee were informed on the licensing policy.
In his 17-page note, Raja has said that he had "exchanged a letter" with the Prime Minister on November 2, 2007 on various issues relating to the telecom sector and also had subsequent personal discussions on the subject.
"It was agreed in these discussions that the Minister of Communication and IT would have discussions with Shri Pranab Mukherjee, the then External Affairs Minister, since he was heading the Group of Ministers on vacation of spectrum," he said in his March 13 note to JPC.
He said discussions were held between him and Mukherjee in December, 2007 on subscriber base criteria for allotment of additional spectrum, issue of dual technology and issue of new licenses.
Giving details of the sequence of events in run up to the allocation done in January 2008, Raja said Vahanvati, the then Solicitor General, was also present in these discussions as same issues were the subject of litigation before Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT).
Hitting out at Vahanvati for his contention before JPC that the controversial press release regarding 2G licenses was changed at the last minute by him in 2008 with a different pen, Raja said the Solicitor General had defended the same press release for two years in different courts without raising any question on its authenticity.
He said for the purpose of discussions with Mukherjee, Vahanvati had prepared a note dealing with subscriber base criteria for allotment of additional spectrum, issue of dual technology, manner in which spectrum will be allocated and the issue of new telecom licences.
"...Thus government is obliged to scrutinise the pending applications and if the applicants are found eligible, to issue licenses on a first-come-first-served basis..." Raja told JPC quoting Vahanvati's note.
Hitting back at the AG over his deposition before JPC, Raja said Vahanvati's claim that he was not involved in any policy decision by the government was not correct as his note to Mukherjee contained the "essence" of the entire policy of the DoT.
Raja said Vahanvati's explanation that DoT had approached him with the press release to know whether there was a stay in any court on the issue of licenses is "absurd and unbelievable".
In reply to a specific query by JPC as to when was the sentence 'press release approved as amended' recorded by him in the file, Raja said it was written before the file was sent to Vahanvati.
Raja also claimed that Vahanvati dealt with the press release and the impact of deleting the last paragraph in various litigations in 2008, 2009 in the TDSAT, High Court and the Supreme Court. (ANI with inputs)
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