2G scam: AG advised Pranab, Raja in 2007

The office of Attorney General Goolam E Vahanvati has said he had offered advice as solicitor general to the then External Affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee and Telecom minister A Raja in 2007 on 2G spectrum issues but it was not written and there is no copy of it.

In reply to a Right to Information query, the Attorney General's office confirmed that there was a discussion over 2G spectrum related issues in the first week of December 2007, where Mukherjee and Raja were present.

"Yes, there was a discussion held with the then Union minister for External Affairs in relation to the issues raised in the proceedings filed by Cellular Operators Association of India before the Telecom Dispute Settlement and Apellate Tribunal in relation to allocation of spectrum.

"The minister of Communication and IT was present. The contentions of the COAI and those of the department of telecommunications were explained to the minister. The meeting lasted about 15 minutes," the reply from the office of Attorney General said.

The office said, in an RTI reply to activist S C Agrawal,"no minutes were prepared" on the meeting and "no written advice was given. A brief note was prepared and handed over to the Minister.

"A copy of the note was not retained in the office," it said. Raja had allegedly used the discussion to press his point before the prime minister to go ahead with spectrum allocation as against the advice of the PM asking him to wait for some days before taking any action on the issue.

Raja, on Decmeber 26, 2007, had written to the prime minister saying, "I have already consulted the Pranab Mukherjee and Solicitor General of India G E Vahanvati, and they have advised me that as a preemptive and proactive measure I can go ahead with the allocation of 2G Spectrum space immediately."