Statement by accused can't be taken seriously: Congress

“Raja's claims are statements of an accused trying to defend himself”

The Congress on Monday forcefully dismissed the Bharatiya Janata Party's demand that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh quit on the 2G spectrum issue. It described him as a man of “honesty, integrity and rectitude,” while stressing that “to denigrate him is like spitting at the sun.”

The day saw both the party and the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government rejecting the former Telecom Minister, A. Raja's allegations against the Prime Minister and Home Minister P. Chidambaram. Their contention was that accusations made by an accused person facing charges in court could not be taken seriously.

While Manish Tewari defended the Prime Minister and the Home Minister in his capacity as party spokesperson, Kapil Sibal did so as Telecom Minister.

Mr. Raja alleged in the court that all transactions made in the allocation of 2G spectrum were known to both the Prime Minister andthe then Finance Minister, Mr. Chidambaram: this accusation triggered off the demand by the BJP that the Prime Minister step down.

For the Union government, Mr. Raja's plea that Dr. Singh and Mr. Chidambaram were in the loop was not new, as he had made this statement earlier too, though not in court. But it was nevertheless embarrassing to the government. At the Congress' official briefing, the majority of questions posed to the spokesperson were on this issue, overshadowing the party's effort to focus on Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa being indicted by the Lokayukta in the illegal mining issue.

“If anyone raised questions about the processes in the 2G issue,” Mr. Tewari pointed out, “it was the Prime Minister.”

He also stressed that Mr. Raja's claims in court were the statements of an “accused trying to defend himself at the time of framing of charges… The allegations are being made not by a member of the Council of Ministers, but by an accused.”

Mr. Tewari went on to say that it would be a “very sad day for Indian democracy if excessive and unnecessary reliance is given to a statement by an accused.” He also said that it was improper to give a running commentary on court proceedings.

Later, sources in the Congress, responding to a question whether Mr. Raja's party seniors had put him up to making the statement in court, said they did not believe that. Mr. Raja, they said, was desperate to save himself and, therefore, made the accusations.

Mr. Tewari attacked BJP president Nitin Gadkari, saying the latter needed to know the history of the Telecom Ministry and the role of the NDA government in it. The migration policy initiated by the NDA government in the Telecom Ministry, led by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, led to a real — not presumptive — loss of Rs. 43,000 crore to the exchequer which, at current valuation, would be Rs 1.73 lakh crore.