New Delhi:
The special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court has posted for November 8, hearing of a petition by Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy seeking that Home Minister P Chidambaram be made a co-accused in the 2G scam case. Mr Chidambaram was the Finance Minister when the telecom scam unfolded in 2008.
The trial court said on Monday that it would wait for the verdict of the Supreme Court on another petition filed by Mr Swamy seeking a CBI inquiry against Mr Chidambaram.
The CBI trial court, which framed charges in the 2G case on Saturday against 17 accused, will today also hear the bail applications of DMK MP Kanimozhi and six others.
In the Supreme Court, Subramanian Swamy has contended that Mr Chidambaram deserves to be questioned on the basis of a note from the Finance Ministry that finds that the minister did not act rigorously enough as Finance Minister in 2008 to ensure that valuable spectrum was sold at fair prices to companies.
The note - sent in March to the Prime Minister's Office - had turned into a searing controversy, mainly because notings establish it was "seen by" Pranab Mukherjee - suggesting that he endorsed its content.
The excavation of that document by a Right to Information activist allowed the Opposition to demand with more surety the resignation of Mr Chidambaram. A week after the document was presented in the Supreme Court, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee clarified it was prepared with inputs from different ministries, and that he did not agree with all of its inferences.
The government has so far backed Mr Chidambaram vociferously, with the Prime Minister stating that the Home Minister enjoys his "complete confidence." Mr Mukherjee has described Mr Chidambaram as "a pillar of strength" to the government in what's being seen as an attempt to assuage his upset colleague. Mr Chidambaram reportedly had told the PM that the note against him is the result of an orchestrated campaign within the government against him.
Mr Swamy had urged the Supreme Court to monitor the investigation into the 2G scam, which is being conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Since November, the inquiry has cost a couple of Union ministers their jobs, and lodged several executives at some of India's biggest telecom companies in prison.
While the Supreme Court is monitoring the CBI's investigation into the telecom scam, the case is actually being tried by the CBI court. The CBI and the Centre have defended Mr Chidambaram and have argued that it should be left to the trial court. The Centre had also said that the Supreme Court need not monitor the 2G case anymore.