CBI notices to Raja, Radia; Baijal questioned

CBI today sent notices to former communications minister A Raja and corporate lobbyist Niira Radia asking them to appear before the agency for questioning while grilling former Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) chairman Pradip Baijal in connection with the 2G spectrum scam.

However, the investigative body is yet to take action against corporate entities alleged to be involved in the scam, which spanned from 2001 to 2006-07.

Moreover, CBI is yet to take action and initiate a probe on the role of Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) P J Thomas, who was appointed the telecom secretary on October 1, 2009.

"I am not afraid of CBI. I am a lawyer. As a lawyer, I will abide by the law. I will not evade the law," Raja told reporters in Chennai.

Notices were sent to Raja and Radia, among others, in connection with the probe into allocation of spectrum to telecom firms that resulted in loss of at least Rs 22,000 crore to the exchequer.

Baijal, a 1966-batch IAS officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre, was questioned by CBI sleuths for about three-and-a-half hours at the agency's headquarters in Delhi.

"I have given my clarifications (to CBI)," he told reporters after the questioning. Asked what these clarifications were, an apparently agitated Baijal shot back: “Don’t you understand English" and said "no comments".

The premises of Raja in Delhi and Tamil Nadu, as also those of Baijal and Radia, were searched by the CBI earlier this month in connection with the case. So far, Raja's party, the DMK, has stood by him, though party chief M Karunanidhi has declared that if he is found guilty, action will be taken.

The CBI has been asked by the Supreme Court for a status report on its investigations in the 2G spectrum case by February 10 when the matter will come up for hearing.

Dismissing as "rubbish" reports that he had sought anticipatory bail, the former telecom minister said, "I am not an accused and there is no question of my applying for an anticipatory bail". "When I was here, I received a letter from the CBI and immediately I sent a letter that I am in Chennai. I am having some personal work and health check-up. I told them that whatever be the next date convenient to the CBI, I will come...It is up to the CBI now to tell me about the new date," Raja told reporters.

On Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement at the Congress plenary session today that "no guilty person will be spared", Raja said he was not competent to comment on that.

About his meeting with DMK chief M Karunanidhi on Saturday, he said, "It was a meeting between a leader and a cadre. It is natural that cadre meet its leader".

Law to regulate lobbyists
Against the backdrop of the 2G spectrum scam, Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid today favoured a law for governing corporate lobbyists and desired the Prime Minister's directions in this regard.

"There should be a law to regulate lobbying. You cannot link lobbying to corruption. We need to find out and regulate where lobbying is going wrong," Khurshid told reporters here on the sidelines of a PHDCCI event.