No CBI pressure on me: Achary

It's wrong to say I am deposing falsely, says former aide of Raja

January 02, 2012 07:13 pm | Updated November 17, 2021 12:52 am IST - New Delhi

In this file photo former Telecom Minister A. Raja is seen at the Patiala House court in New Delhi.

In this file photo former Telecom Minister A. Raja is seen at the Patiala House court in New Delhi.

A. Raja's former aide Aseervatham Achary on Monday rejected the former Telecom Minister's contention that the CBI put pressure on him to depose falsely as a prosecution witness after the investigating agency failed to connect Mr. Raja to the other accused in the 2G case.Mr. Raja's counsel Sushil Kumar also suggested that Mr. Achary turned against Mr. Raja after the latter failed to ensure his entry into politics, which the witness denied. Mr. Achary rejected Mr. Kumar's contention that he approached Mr. Raja for a Congress ticket to fight the 2009 general elections.

“It is wrong to suggest that I became a witness only when the CBI could not find anything to connect Mr. Raja with other accused. It is wrong to suggest that I was under pressure from the CBI because of the possession of assets disproportionate to my known sources of income. It is wrong to suggest that I was unhappy with A. Raja as he did not promote me in politics. It is wrong to suggest that for these reasons I chose to become a false witness against him for the prosecution [the CBI]. It is wrong to suggest that I am deposing falsely,” said Mr. Achary.

The witness also denied that he had collected documents from the Telecom Ministry without authorisation and that he supplied them to a journalist of an English daily after leaving Mr. Raja's service.

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