A Delhi court today fixed October 5 for hearing arguments on a plea by former MP Subramanian Swamy that the written statement given by former Telecom Minister A. Raja to the JPC on the 2G scam be placed before the court.
The matter, which was scheduled for arguments today, was deferred as the counsel appearing on behalf of Swamy told the court that the former MP had written a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar on the issue on whether Raja’s statement to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) was “privileged”.
The counsel told Special CBI Judge O. P. Saini that they are awaiting the reply from the Lok Sabha Speaker and after seeking clarification on this issue, Swamy would advance arguments on his plea.
He informed the judge that it would take around a month to get the response and thus the court should defer the matter.
Swamy had earlier argued that Raja’s statement to the JPC is an important document to arrive at the truth and the logical conclusion in the 2G spectrum case.
He had also alleged that examination of witnesses of the CBI is “incomplete” as they have not discussed the meetings which took place regarding the allocation of 2G spectrum during Raja’s tenure as Telecom Minister.
He had said Raja’s statement to the JPC speaks about various meetings which took place regarding allocation and pricing of spectrum.
Swamy had also pressed for summoning of then Finance Ministry officials Sindhushree Khullar and Shyamala Shukla as witnesses to explain the file notings during those meetings.
On May 4, Swamy had approached the court saying, “In order to ensure that all aspects of the case are examined, actual culprits may be booked, tried and punished it is necessary to summon the complete written statement filed by Raja before the JPC.”
Swamy has sought summoning of Raja’s April 22 written statement to JPC Chairman P. C. Chacko along with the draft report of the JPC, the draft report of the Public Accounts Committee and also that of Shukla, the then Director of Infrastructure, and Khullar, the then Additional Secretary of the Economic Affairs Department, to ascertain the truth.