PM, Chidambaram decided against selling licenses: Kanimozhi

New Delhi: PM Manmohan Singh and the then Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram are in the circle of the 2G spectrum case along with the then Telecom Minister, A Raja had decided along not to auction the licenses, said Kanimozhi to the Delhi High Court who is in Tihar Jail.

"I am showing you (judge) the minutes of the meeting in which the Prime Minister, the then finance minister and the telecom minister decided that the licenses for the 2G spectrum was not to be sold/auctioned," senior advocate Sushil Kumar, appearing for Kanimozhi, told the Special CBI Judge O P Saini. Seeking discharge from the case, the counsel for the 43 years old DMK MP, said the CBI case is based on the premise that the accused caused huge loss to the nation & especially the telecom sector of the country by not auctioning the licenses for the 2G spectrum.

"The Prime Minister, the then finance minister and the present telecom minister are ‘good enough’ as witnesses to prove that there was no loss. They are on record in Parliament that the government did not incur any loss," Kumar also said. Adding with this, Kumar also said that, "The moment, the loss factor goes out, the charge of cheating also goes out."

The defense counsel also cluttered the calculation of loss by the CBI and the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) saying they are "just theoretical loss" and cannot be a basis for prosecution of the accused. "The CAG report (of loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the state) was laid before the House on November 16, 2010. It had not been accepted by the House. It is still in the limbo as the House is yet to adopt the report," the counsel said.

The counsel calculated the loss of Rs. 30, 984 crore for Kanimozhi, by the CBI & also saying that by auctioning the licenses, the government could have earned more money. “The words — could have — cannot be the basis of prosecution as the relevant paragraph in the charge sheet is (a) full myth," the defense counsel said.

The defense counsel argued by saying that, “The sale of equities by Swan Telecom Pvt Ltd & Unitech Wireless (Tamil Nadu) Pvt. Ltd. (the two alleged beneficiaries of the scam) to foreign firms, Etisalat & Telenor, respectively were approved by the government. It was not the sale of the licenses & hence there was no loss.”

"Where is the sale (of the licenses)? Where is the cheating?" asked the counsel for the DMK supreme M Karunanidhi’s daughter, arrested by the CBI on May 30 for her alleged role in the scam. Her arguments of opposing charges of corruption & other penal offences like cheating & hatching criminal conspiracy in the 2G scam is still on.

Kanimozhi’s arguments looking for her discharge from the case virtually reverberate those of former Telecom Minister A Raja who too had sought to twine in the Prime Minister and Chidambaram in the case, telling the court that the issue of intensity of equity by spectrum licenses was discussed with them.

Defending 47-year-old Raja against corruption charges in 2G scam, Kumar had told the court that there was nothing wrong in his decision of not auctioning 2G spectrum and that he was only following the policies pursued by his predecessors and the NDA government. "I (Raja) have implemented only what I (Raja) have inherited," Raja’s counsel had said. Kumar had said when home minister Chidambaram was the finance minister he had told the Prime Minister that dilution of shares by the accused licenses to attract FDI did not amount to sale of license. Arguing that the sale of equity was not the sale of license, Raja’s counsel had said he cannot be accused of corruption in the controversial 2G spectrum allocation.

"The matter (about sale of equity by spectrum licenses) was discussed between the Prime Minister and the then Finance Minister. The then finance minister (who is now Home Minister) had said in front of the Prime Minister that strength of shares does not amount to sale of 2G license as per the corporate law," Raja’s counsel had emphasized, even adding "Let the Prime Minister deny this."

He had further said, "When sale of equity does not amount to sale of license, there is no question of earning profit. How can there be corruption in this regard?" The CBI, in its second Charge sheet, had alleged that Kanimozhi, who holds 20 percent stake in the DMK-run Kalaignar TV, accepted Rs 200 crore from various firms promoted by Shahis Usman Balwa, another key accused in the scam.

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