The former Telecom Secretary, Mr D.S. Mathur, told a Special Court on Monday that he had cautioned the then Telecom Minister, Mr A. Raja, against advancing the cut-off date for receipt of applications for grant of 2G licences and spectrum.
The decision regarding the Department of Telecom's press release on January 10, 2008 advancing the cut-off date for receipt of applications from October 1, 2007 to September 25, 2007 may be considered “arbitrary” and could result in “legal complications”, he had said.
This DoT decision had resulted in a large number of applications received after September 25 not being considered. The CBI has alleged that Mr Raja had advanced the cut-off date in conspiracy with others to favour some of the 2G firms such as Unitech Wireless and Swan Telecom.
“I took the file personally to the Minister and told him that the decision needs to be reconsidered, though I did not record these facts on the file, that is, the decision may be considered arbitrary and it may give rise to legal complications,” he said under oath.
“When I spoke to the Minister (Mr Raja), he told me that the aforesaid decision would be reconsidered and he wanted to discuss the matter in future,” Mr Mathur, a 1971 batch IAS officer, added.
Mr Mathur became the Telecom Secretary in July 2006 and retired on December 31, 2007. On December 20, 2011, a former aide of the then Telecom Minister, Mr A. Raja, and the CBI's star witness, Mr Aseervatham Achary, had confirmed before the Special Court that there was a rift between Mr Raja and Mr Mathur.
Mr Achary, who was associated with Mr Raja for almost 10 years, said Mr Raja himself had told him about the rift with Mr Mathur during November-December 2007. Though he denied spying on Mr Raja, Mr Achary had said that one day while he was busy in his work, he had heard Mr Raja shouting at Mr Mathur in the camp office at his residence.
This assumes significance because when the 2G scam broke out, Mr Mathur had told reporters that he had opposed Mr Raja's decision to advance the cut-off date. Mr Mathur had also ‘refused to sign files pertaining to 2G licences due to differences with the Minister'.