2G case: CBI reluctant to probe Chidambaram's 'role'

The CBI today objected to the central government telling the Supreme Court that it will examine documents given by Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy indicating that home minister P Chidambaram was also involved in fixing the 2G spectrum price. Pics: In the dock

The CBI on Tuesday objected to the central government telling the Supreme Court that it will examine documents given by Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy indicating that home minister P Chidambaram, as the then finance minister, was also involved in fixing the 2G spectrum price.

Union-home-minister-P-Chidambaram-leaves-from-10-Janpath-after-a-meeting-with-Congress-President-Sonia-Gandhi-in-New-Delhi-on-Monday

"Nobody can put in our mouth what we are going to do. We are autonomous and independent of the government," senior counsel KK Venugopal, appearing for the probe agency, said.

Swamy is seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe against Chidambaram alleging that the spectrum price was not decided by jailed former communications minister A Raja alone but was jointly fixed by the two.

An apex court bench of Justice GS Singhvi and Justice AK Ganguly was told that the 15 documents presented by Swamy were part of the 500 documents in a file that have already been perused by the CBI and the report was already with the special court trying the 2G scam case.

Venugopal took exception to the central government telling the apex court that the "new documents filed for the first time before this court will naturally be studied and considered by the CBI as usual and may be covered in the next status report (to the apex court)".

Earlier on Monday, the Patiala House trial court deferred Swamy's petition seeking to make Chidambaram an accused in the 2G scam case till October 12. This came as a breather for the UPA. Swamy has alleged that the issue of spectrum pricing was decided by former telecom minister A Raja along with Chidambaram.

Last week the Centre and CBI took divergent stands before the Supreme Court over continuing with the monitoring of 2G spectrum scam by the court. PC a traitor: Swamy | Video: PM backs Chidambaram