On the second day of his arguments against the charges slapped on him by the CBI in the 2G spectrum allocation case, the former Telecom Minister, A. Raja, on Tuesday defended the action of Swan Telecom and Unitech Wireless diluting shares through foreign direct investment, stating there was no lock-in period for equity sale.
“If the Rs. 22,000 crore loss as a result of this is correct, Rs. 14,000 crore went to one person? Where is he? Where is that company,” he said.
Pointing out that the Foreign Investment Promotion Board approved every foreign investment in the country, Mr. Raja said: “When the Cabinet is approving foreign investment, which law have I violated?”
Mr. Raja's counsel Sushil Kumar accused the CBI of suppressing from the court that other companies like Shyam Telelinks had applied for UAS licences on September 25, a day after Unitech Wireless submitted theirs. “They are persecutors, not prosecutors.”
He also complained to the court that the media was not reporting the court proceedings correctly. “This misreporting is causing me serious prejudice. They can't put words in my mouth or my client's mouth.”
‘Charges are absurd'
Mr. Kumar also said there were no substantive allegations by the CBI against Unitech Wireless promoter Sanjay Chandra.
“Where is the quid pro quo? Between Mr. Raja and Mr. Chandra you can't clamp Sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act. According to them, I gave 22 licences to Unitech Wireless for free, and took Rs.200 crore from Swan Telecom for 13 licences! The charges are absurd.”
Taking pot-shots at various former top DoT officials, who were now prosecution witnesses in the case, Mr. Kumar said: “The so-called witnesses in the case were a party to all the decisions taken. Let them also face the music.”
Mr. Kumar ended arguments by charging that the CBI had suppressed from the court more than 30,000 pages of documents that would have helped prove Mr. Raja's innocence.
