2G scam: A. Raja, aides to be produced in court

New Delhi, Feb 3 (ANI): Former Telecom Minister A Raja will be produced in the Patiala House court on Thursday, a day after he was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the 2G spectrum scam case.

Raja, along with his personal secretary RK Chandolia and former telecom secretary Siddharth Behura, will appear at court for the hearing after spending the night in Tihar Jail.

The CBI arrested Raja along with Chandolia and Behuria on Wednesday in connection with the scam.

Chandolia was Raja's private secretary during the rule of the first United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government. When the UPA returned to power in May 2009 and Raja returned as Telecom Minister, Chandolia was appointed economic advisor in his office.

Siddharth Behuria was the Telecom Secretary January 1, 2008 to September 30, 2009. He signed off on the files that formalized the sale of 2G licenses.

The investigating agency questioned Raja for the fourth time on Wednesday. He was questioned earlier on December 24 and 25 last year and on January 31.

The Supreme Court has asked the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to submit status reports on their investigations into the 2G scam to it by February 10, when the case will come up for hearing.

Earlier this week, a report by a one-man commission, Justice Shivraj Patil, was handed over to new Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal. Justice Patil was asked in December to look into whether officials in the Telecom Ministry had, since 1991, violated government procedures and guidelines for allocating spectrum.

The CBI in its first information report had mentioned the loss as Rs.22, 000 crore based on the findings of Central Vigilance Commission, which had referred the case to it.

Raja was forced to resign from Union Cabinet last year after a report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) faulted him for undervaluing spectrum to favour companies who were largely ineligible for 2G spectrum, and added that the government had probably lost Rs.1.76 lakh crore in estimated revenue. (ANI)