New Delhi:
The man who is at the centre of the 2G whorl may have quit his office, but the political consequences of the deals he struck with big telecom companies are multiplying every day.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday was critical of the Prime Minister for taking 16 months to decide on whether Telecom Minister A Raja could be prosecuted for giving away 2G spectrum at throwaway prices in 2008. "The alleged inaction and silence is worrying us," said the court.
Raja has been formally indicted in a report by the government's auditor for costing the government nearly Rs 1.76 lakh crore by refusing to auction the spectrum. That report - by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) was tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, though it was leaked to the media last week.
In November 2008, Subramaniam Swamy, former Law Minister and Janata Party leader, wrote to the PM asking for permission to prosecute Raja. For Raja to have been prosecuted by a court, the PM's sanction was needed because he was a serving minister.
In March this year, the Department of Personnel (who the CBI reports to) wrote back to Swamy saying that since the CBI was investigating the case, it would not be appropriate to consider Swamy's request at this stage.
The Supreme Court is clear that Swamy's complaint against Raja was not vague. He categorically referred to undue benefits given to telecom companies like Swan and Anil Ambani's Reliance Telecom. The CAG report has underscored the same point, stating that Swan seemed to serve as little more than a front for Reliance Telecom, effectively allowing Ambani to collect more spectrum.
The Supreme Court wants the Solicitor General to find out what happened during the year between Swamy lodging his complaint in November 2008 , and the filing of an FIR in the 2G case in October 2009.
The court also wants to know what transpired between then and March 2010 when Swamy finally received his reply.
"For good governance, there must be some time-limit for granting sanctions, if not three months. But 11 months is too long," said the court.
The case will come up for hearing on Thursday.
The Supreme Court's remarks against the PM are a windfall for the Opposition, which has been insisting that because the CBI does not function impartially, the government must agree to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to examine the 2G scam. The government has steadfastly refused to this demand.
CPM leader Sitaram Yechury said the Supreme Court's observation vindicated the Opposition's stand. "At least now the government must agree to either a JPC probe or something similar if they have any better suggestion", he said.