Court allows I-T dept to quiz Raja, 5 others

A Delhi court today allowed the Income Tax (I-T) department to interrogate six accused, including former Telecom Minister A Raja, arrested for their alleged involvement in the 2G scam, in judicial custody itself.

Special CBI Judge OP Saini allowed the application moved by the Income Tax department seeking permission to quiz Raja, Swan Telecom promoters Shahid Usman Balwa and Vinod Goenka and three Reliance ADAG top officials -- Gautam Doshi, Hari Nair and Surendra Pipara.

I-T department moved three separate applications seeking interrogation of Raja in connection with his family income, senior Standing Counsel for the I-T department Sanjeev Rajpal said.

Balwa will be quizzed by the I-T team from Mumbai regarding his connection with Etisalat DB.

Meanwhile, the third application was moved on behalf of the Additional Commissioner of Income Tax, Mumbai to quiz Balwa, Goenka and three ADAG officials.

"Our applications have been allowed by the court and these six persons will be interrogated from July 27 to July 29," Rajpal said.

The CBI, meanwhile, started the arguments on framing of charges against various accused in the 2G scam.