The telecom minister in the NDA regime, Arun Shourie, on Friday said: “The change during former minister of communications & IT Dayanidhi Maran’s tenure came in the guidelines of 2005 whereas the Trai did not recommend it till 2007. That is how some operations were planned that could not go through and Mr Raja acted on them.” Mr
Raja must turn an approver for the agency and spill the beans about the beneficiaries of this scam, he added. He also submitted a 50-page note prepared by him on various issues relating to 2G-spectrum allocation to the CBI officials and said he was ready to appear again if called by the agency.
The minister during the NDA regime said, “I feel that CBI should concentrate on where the money was exchanged rather than procedures. Real issue is that money was exchanged”. On the issue of Prime Minister’s statement that the law ministry, finance ministry and telecom ministry were working in synergy over spectrum pricing, he refused to give a direct reply but said that the then law minister H.R. Bhardwaj wanted the matter to be referred to the Group of Ministers but Mr Raja managed to get terms of reference of GoM changed.
Mr Shourie also criticised Shivraj Patil committee’s report, saying that the government was trying to divert attention from the real issue that kickbacks were received in 2G spectrum allocation.
He said, as per his information, the CBI has spoken to the whistle-blower, who had given the inputs about the scam.
Besides, the CBI officials also questioned former CEO of Tata Teleservices Ltd Anil Sardana and CEO of Loop Telecom Sandip Basu in connection with 2G probe.
According to sources, the duo were asked to clarify alleged deals struck by their respective organisations with the DoT to get spectrum licenses and stakes in other telecom companies, which have actually got licenses on their names. The agency officials had yesterday questioned R Krishna Kumar and Sanjay Ubale, chairman and managing director respectively of Tata Realty and Infrastructure.