2G: Kanimozhi shifts blame on PM, FM

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and then Finance Minister P Chidambaram were fully in the loop on the 2G spectrum license allocation and had decided along with then Telecom Minister A Raja not to auction them, jailed Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam member of Parliament Kanimozhi told a Delhi court on Tuesday.

"I am showing you (judge) the minutes of the meeting in which the prime minister, the then finance minister and the telecom minister decided that the licences for the 2G spectrum was not to be sold/auctioned," senior advocate Sushil Kumar, appearing for Kanimozhi, told the Special Central Bureau of Investigation Judge O P Saini.

Seeking discharge from the case, the counsel for the 43-year-old DMK MP, said the CBI case is based on the premise that the accused caused huge loss to the state exchequer by not auctioning the licences for the 2G spectrum.

"The prime minister, the then finance minister and the present telecom minister are 'good enough' as witnesses to prove that there was no loss. They are on record in Parliament that the government did not incur any loss," Kumar said.

"The moment, the loss factor goes out, the charge of cheating also goes out," Kumar said, adding that the basic foundation of the CBI case cannot sustain the legal process.

The defence counsel also trashed the computation of loss by the CBI and the Comptroller and Auditor General saying they are "just notional loss" and cannot be a basis for prosecution of the accused.

"The CAG report (of loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the state) was laid before the House on November 16, 2010. It had not been adopted by the House. It is still in the limbo as the

House is yet to adopt the report," the counsel said.

"The words -- could have -- cannot be the basis of prosecution as the relevant paragraph in the charge sheet is (a) full myth," the defence counsel said.

"The sale of equities by Swan Telecom Pvt Ltd and Unitech Wireless (Tamil Nadu) Pvt Ltd (the two alleged beneficiaries of the scam) to foreign firms, Etisalat and Telenor, respectively were approved by the government. It was not the sale of the licences and hence there was no loss," the defence counsel argued.

"Where is the sale (of the licences)? Where is the cheating?" asked the counsel for the DMK supremo M Karunanidhi's daughter, arrested by the CBI on May 30 for her alleged role in the scam.

Kanimozhi's arguments seeking her discharge from the case virtually echoed those of former Teleceom Minister A Raja who too had sought to rope in the prime minister and Chidamabaram in the case, telling the court that the issue of dilution of equity by spectrum licencees was discussed with them.

Defending 47-year-old Raja against corruption charges in 2G scam, Kumar had told the court that there was nothing wrong in his decision of not auctioning 2G spectrum and that he was merely following the policies pursued by his predecessors and the National Democratic Alliance government.

"I (Raja) have implemented only what I have inherited," Raja's counsel had said. Kumar had said when Chidambaram was the finance minister, he had told the prime minister that dilution of shares by the accused licencees to attract foreign direct investment did not amount to sale of licence.

"The matter (about sale of equity by spectrum licencees) was discussed between the prime minister and the then finance minister, he said.

"The then finance minister (who is now home minister) had said in front of the PM that dilution of shares does not amount to sale of 2G licence as per the corporate law," Raja's counsel had asserted, even adding " Let the PM deny this."

He had further said, "When sale of equity does not amount to sale of licence, there in no question of earning profit. How can there be corruption in this regard?"