Centre, CBI oppose investigation

The Centre and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday opposed any order of investigation by the Supreme Court into the role of P Chidambaram in the 2G scam.

The apex court yesterday took on record secret documents that hinted Chidambaram, who was the finance minister in 2008, and former telecom minister A Raja had decided spectrum prices and entry fee, which became one of the biggest scandals.

P P Rao, the government’s counsel, said the premier investigating agency should be trusted to probe the matter as required by it. “Having regard to the investigation so far to the satisfaction of the Supreme Court, there is no reason to think that the CBI will not now discharge its duty unless a direction is given by the court,” he told the bench, consisting of Justice G S Singhvi and Justice A K Ganguly. Rao said after filing the initial investigation report, if the investigating officer received further evidence, he was under a duty to report it to the court. The new documents, filed by Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy, will “naturally be studied and considered by the CBI as usual and may be covered in the next status report to the Supreme Court.”