'No meeting on new licences between Chidambaram, Raja in Dec 2007'

Home Minister P Chidambaram, who is under attack from the opposition for his role in the 2G scam, has received a much-needed relief.

The department of economic affairs (DEA), in its September 6 communication to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), has said no meeting took place on December 4, 2007, between Chidambaram in his tenure as the finance minister and former communications minister A Raja.

“As per the record available in the infrastructure section (of the department of economic affairs), there is no evidence of the said meeting between the then telecom minister A Raja and the then finance minister P Chidambaram having taken place on December 4, 2007,” it said.

The department was responding to a news report in which the then telecom secretary Siddharth Behura had stated that a meeting was held on December 4, 2007 between Raja and Chidambaram in which some decisions were taken regarding the issue of new licences.

“The department’s submission is in the JPC’s possession and it will be discussed during the ongoing probe,” a JPC member told Business Standard.

The Department of Telecommunications, in its submission on August 8, had already made it clear that “no such records/minutes are available in the Department of Telecommunications”, the member said.