New Delhi:
Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy has told the Supreme Court that the Solicitor General misled the court in the matter relating to the demand for prosecution of former Telecom Minister A Raja in the 2G Spectrum case.
In an affidavit filed today, Swamy stated that there was no mala fide on the part of the Prime Minister. The PM, he said, was badly advised by Law officers, the Law Ministry and beaurucrats.
Swamy said his stand had been vindicated by the affidavit filed by the PM through his office. He sought court guidelines so that "such incidents do not recur".
The Janata Party leaders petition in the Supreme Court has led to a huge storm on the 2G Spectrum issue.
Before filing his affidavit, Swamy said on Monday that the Prime Minister was "sabotaged by his bureaucrats, as the files just kept moving from one department to another," Swamy said on Monday. "The PM is an economist, he doesn't know the law and should be given the benefit of the doubt. After all, he needed advice from the concerned departments," he added.
Subramanium Swamy's replyLast week, the Supreme Court, on Swamy's plea, had said it was worried by the "alleged inaction and silence of the PM" on the role played by A Raja in the licensing of 2G spectrum in 2008.
The Supreme Court's remarks were based on the fact that for close to a year, the PM did not respond to a letter by Subramanian Swamy who wanted the PM to sanction the prosecution of Raja who was, till Sunday, a Cabinet minister.
Swamy alleged what a report by the government's auditor confirmed recently - that Raja deliberately undervalued 2G spectrum and sold it to newcomers who should have been deemed ineligible for licences. Raja was forced to resign on Sunday after the report found him guilty of costing the country close to Rs 1.76 lakh crore by undervaluing 2G spectrum in 2008, and circumventing the rules to award the spectrum to companies that he favoured, and who presented incorrect information to win licences at throwaway prices.
Swamy wrote to the PM in November 2008 - he got his response in March 2010. The government said that because the CBI was investigating the case, Swamy's request could not be granted. Because Raja was a serving minister, the PM's sanction was necessary for Swamy to begin prosecuting him.
However, sources in the government stress that the PM was not legally obliged to respond to Swamy's letter at all. They say that sanctions cannot be considered for a case like this till the process of investigation has been completed.