Will DMK sacrifice Raja to save face before TN Assembly polls?

Source :Indian Express:8th Dec 2010:chennai:15:11Hrs

From being one  of the most influential young leaders of the DMK, ousted Telecom Minister A Raja is fast becoming a liability for the party ahead of the Assembly elections, with sources indicating there is a move to distance the party from him and thus from the scam.

Though the party has supported him to the hilt so far, what has changed the mood is the perception that the scam has dented the image of the DMK ahead of the elections. This despite the slew of welfare measures that the party's government rolled out one after the other in the last four and a half years.

Officially, Raja is the propaganda secretary of the party.

According to a DMK source, it is fast becoming untenable for the party to back Raja on the face of Wednesady's raids and other recent developments including his name figuring in the case pertaining to an attempt to influence a judge of the Madras High Court.

CBI begins raids on Raja, relatives’ houses in TN

Source :BL: PTI;CHENNAI: Wednesday, December 8, 2010:14:10 Hrs

The Central Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday conducted searches at the premises of former Telecom Minister Mr A. Raja, his relatives and associates in different parts of Tamil Nadu.

The raids, which started this morning, were being held at Mr Raja’s house and the office of a trust run by his family in his native Perambalur district, residences of his relatives and associates in Chennai, official sources said.

The sources said Mr Raja’s close aide Sadiq Basha was picked up by the CBI officials in Chennai for questioning.

A report from Tiruchirappalli said besides the raids in Perambalur, CBI sleuths were also conducting searches in the houses of Mr Raja’s brother and and sister in Srirangam and Tiruvanaikaval in the district.

The raids come a day after Mr Raja’s name surfaced in connection with an alleged attempt to influence a Madras High Court Judge in a criminal case.

The court had suspended the Chairman of Tamil Nadu Bar Council, Mr R.K. Chandramohan, for allegedly attempting to influence the judge by taking Mr Raja’s name last year, when he was the Union Minister.

Mr Raja had recently quit as Telecom Minister after the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India quantified the losses caused in the allocation of 2G spectrum at throwaway prices at around Rs 1.76 lakh crore.

Meanwhile, BJP, Left and other Opposition parties have been demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the issue and stalling the proceedings in Parliament. — 

Apex court asks Govt to set up special court

Source :BL;PTI:NEW DELHI:Wednesday,dec 8th 16.45pm

 The Supreme Court has asked the Centre to consider setting up a special court to deal with the Rs 1.76-lakh-crore 2G spectrum scam.

A Bench of Mr Justices G.S. Singhvi and Mr A.K. Ganguly said there was a need for a special court in view of the magnitude of the offence as otherwise the objective of the prevention of Corruption Act and Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) could not be achieved.

“Unless the Government is prepared to create a special court, purpose will not be served. It is the need of the hour, we must have exclusive courts to deal with these offences,” the Bench observed.

The Solicitor General, Mr Gopal Subramanium, admitted that the case needs special expertise and said that he would consult the Government and report back to the court.

“We have to get a special court if we want objective of the statue to be achieved. It cannot be done with existing manpower and infrastructure,” the Bench said.

The apex court pointed out that though the Government was enacting a number of laws, it was not creating adequate courts as the result of which the existing courts were over burdened and there was no way special cases like the present one could be dealt in an expeditious manner.

“The present courts are over burdened. Most important in this case is appreciation of evidence from a normal murder case. Here it is a conspiracy. That conspiracy angle has to be investigated. It needs expertise. When you enact a law, you should have tha t in mind,” the Bench observed. — 

2G scam: CBI raids residences of Raja, 4 officials

Source :BL: PTI:NEW DELHI/CHENNAI:Wednesday, December 8, 2010

The Central Bureau of Investigation today carried out searches at the residences of the former Telecom Minister, Mr A. Raja, in Delhi and Chennai besides carrying out raids at the premises of four other telecom officials, including his personal secretary, Mr R.K. Chandolia, in connection with the Rs 22,000-crore 2G spectrum scam.

CBI sleuths began the searches in the wee hours of the morning in Delhi and Chennai at the residences of 47-year-old Raja, who was forced to resign as minister on November 14 in the wake of CAG’s report that the rate at which 2G spectrum was allotted res ulted in a possible loss to the exchequer to the tune of Rs 1.76 lakh crore.

Raids were also carried out at the residences of former Telecom Secretary, Mr Siddarth Behura, Mr Chandolia, Member-Telecom Commission, Mr K. Sridhar, and the Deputy Director-General in the Department of Telecom, Mr A.K. Srivastava, CBI sources said.

Mr Raja has been maintaining that he was ready for questioning by the CBI any time.

The CBI sources said that the former minister would also be questioned during the process of searches.

The Supreme Court had come down heavily on the CBI on November 22 for failing to question Mr Raja and the Telecom Secretary in connection with the scam, saying it was “beating around the bush’’.

A Bench of Mr Justices G.S. Singhvi and Mr A.K. Ganguly wondered why the premier investigating agency failed to question the duo despite the CVC and CAG report sharply indicting them for their involvement.

“Any responsible person will question the involvement of the minister and the secretary and you (CBI) say that 8,000 documents have been examined. You are beating around the bush.

It was (questioning) minimum expected of the CBI. What do you take this court for,” the Bench had observed during the argument. —