The 2G spectrum allocation case is heating up not just in the court halls but even outside.
Having been at the receiving end of several “exposes,” the former Telecom Minister, A. Raja, has decided to write his version of the events in the dramatic 2G case that created a political storm during the second term of the UPA government. The decision of Mr. Raja is quite significant given that the case is reaching its concluding stages. The final arguments in the case, in which DMK’s Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi is also an accused, is likely to commence in November.
Speaking to The Hindu over the phone from New Delhi, Mr. Raja said “revolutionaries have always been dubbed criminals in their times.” His case, he claimed, was similar to having created a telecom revolution in India.
He said the book, which he is hoping to release in a year, would deal primarily with the contradictions among constitutional institutions in the handling of the 2G issue.
The book would also try to counter the CAG’s estimate of the losses in the allocation of 2G spectrum. “The biggest stigma that continues on me is the figure of 1.76 lakh crore which CAG said was the loss to exchequer. This figure has not held water,” he claimed.
However, he said his narration would not interfere with the ongoing judicial process in any manner.
“In fact I am yet to decide on whether to publish it before or after the verdict, which is expected next year,” Mr. Raja said. Asked how he would deal with the political implications of the case in his book, he said the “silence that some people maintained” when they were supposed to speak out would be dealt with. “I have not decided on who the publisher would be. But I am very serious about bringing out the book,” he pointed out.
