I’m a victim of trial by media: Raja to apex court

NEW DELHI - Former telecom minister A. Raja told the Supreme Court Wednesday that he was a victim of trial by media and the “mind-boggling” Rs.1.76 lakh crore loss to the public exchequer in the 2G spectrum allocation as mentioned in the CAG report was “presumptive and subjective” and would not stand judicial scrutiny.

“I stand condemned, charge-sheeted, tried and convicted by the media. My stock is so low that anything I say does not redeem my position,” said T.R. Andhyarujina appearing for Raja before an apex court bench of Justice G.S. Singhvi and Justice Ashok Kumar Ganguly.

Raja is one of the respondents in the petition by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) seeking monitoring of the CBI investigation into the 2G spectrum scam by the apex court.

Andhyarujina told the court that his client was not inclined take up any contentious issues with the court and would go by any of its directions.

The senior counsel said there was no indictment and culpability of Raja in the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report. However, “there is a strong indictment of the Department of Telecommunication, and being its head I am accountable”, Andhyarujina told the court.

The senior counsel said the CAG report was a “presumptive valuation of mind-boggling loss” which was totally speculative and required a very serious consideration of the court.

The court was told that the 2001 price which was charged for the allocation of the 2G spectrum in 2008 was consistent with the recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), which it had stated in 2003 and reiterated in 2005, 2007 and even in 2010.

Andhyarujina said the CAG followed a principle of accounting which is never used for calculating value. The senior counsel said that parameters followed by the CAG were presumptive and speculative.

“What Raja did in 2008 was similarly done by the then telecom minister Arun Shourie and Dayanidhi Maran,” the senior counsel told the court. He told the court that 52 licences were issued between 2001 to 2007 on the same basis but they were not questioned.

Andhyarujina said he will not use strong words for the august CAG but maintained that its findings of mind-boggling losses would not stand the test of judicial scrutiny.

Earlier, Andhyarujina told the court that his client was not speaking to the media because the entire matter is sub-judice and is being heard by the apex court. However, Raja’s silence should not be construed as some kind of admission of his guilt, the senior counsel told the court.

He told the court that Raja resigned “because under political compulsion you have to take a stand for the party’s considerations”.