The noose appeared to be tightening further around tainted former telecom minister A. Raja with the CBI sending him a notice on Monday asking him to appear before it for questioning in connection with the 2G spectrum allocation scam.
Mr Raja, who is in Chennai, however, sought to put up a brave face despite the CBI serving the notice under Section 160 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) at his Chennai residence. Talking to reporters in Chennai, Mr Raja said: “I am not afraid of the CBI” and maintained that he has been cooperating with the agency. “I am a lawyer and I know what is law. This is a natural procedure after they conducted the raids. I am ready for questioning and I will not evade any process of law,” he said.
However, despite his show of bravado in the morning, by late Monday evening Mr Raja was singing a different tune, claiming he was unwell and would convey this to the CBI.
There were also reports on Monday that corporate lobbyist Nira Radia too had been sent a notice by the CBI for questioning. CBI officials, however, did not confirm if a notice had indeed been sent to her. Ms Radia is already under probe by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and income-tax department and has been questioned at length by the former.
The CBI also questioned former chairman of the Telecom Regulatory of India Pradip Baijal on Monday in connection with the 2G probe. The agency had earlier registered a case against unknown officials of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and unknown private persons, companies and others under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act in connection with alleged irregularities in the allotment of 2G spectrum licences. The
agency is also expected to call some serving DoT officials for questioning in connection with its probe very soon. Sources said Mr Baijal, a 1966-batch IAS officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre, was questioned by agency sleuths for about six hours at the CBI headquarters in Delhi. Talking to reporters immediately after the questioning, he said, “I have given my clarification to the CBI. No further comments.” The CBI recently conducted searches at the office and residential premises of Ms Radia, Mr Baijal and several Chennai-based companies with which Mr Raja and his family members are allegedly linked in connection with the 2G spectrum scam. CBI officials also searched the residential premises of two alleged hawala operators — Mahesh Jain and Alok Jain — in Delhi.
Sources further said the agency has also decided to probe the allegations of grant of huge loans by the public sector and other banks to some of the companies that succeeded in obtaining licences in 2008 and find out whether DoT officers were signatories to the loan agreement.