Raja aide distances himself from 2G scam

Counsel for R K Chandolia, personal secretary to jailed ex-telecom minister A Raja, hit out at the Tata Group and corporate lobbyist Niira Radia, while defending his client in on Friday’s court hearing on the spectrum allocation scam.

Through his counsel, Chandolia also distanced himself from Raja’s decisions, putting the responsibility squarely on the former minister for any wrongdoing. As with Raja, he has been in jail since February over the charges.

The court rejected Chandolia’s appeal for interim bail.

Chandolia said Raja had facilitated a deal to get Kalaignar TV (KTV) on the Tata Sky direct-t-home platform, through Radia. He said Radia and the minister’s former additional personal secretary, A Achary, had a phone conversation on the matter. Radia told Acharya to convey to Raja that the KTV problem had been sorted, according to Chandolia. He alleged Raja facilitated the deal through Achary.

Chandolia's lawyer, Vijay Agarwal, said, “The CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) does not have the guts to touch Tata and Radia. They are big people and CBI cannot touch them. But why not Achary?” He stressed the latter had been closely associated with Raja for 12 years. For Chandolia, the lawyer said he was merely following the commands of his master, Raja. He was not concerned if a particular decision was right or wrong.

“Can an assistant ask his Lord why he's made a certain decision? I am just a pawn in this game. I challenge the CBI to produce even one document with my signature on it,” he told judge O P Saini.

Chandolia's counsel also said the policy of first come, first served and the decision on the cutoff date was upheld by the Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal.