2G case: Raja asked to submit stand in writing

Seeking to play safe, JPC chairman PC Chacko has asked former telecom minister A Raja to give a written submission on the 2G issue rather than appear personally as pleaded by him.

Seeking to play safe, JPC chairman PC Chacko has asked former telecom minister A Raja to give a written submission on the 2G issue rather than appear personally as pleaded by him.

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Sources said Chacko conveyed this to Raja on Thursday as the committee is in the process of finalising the report.

Chacko took this route apparently amid fears that deposition by Raja, the main accused in the 2G scam, could lead to demands by BJP and Left for calling finance minister P Chidambaram before the committee as a witness.

Raja's "rebuttal note" would be circulated to members of the c and would be treated as part of the panel's proceedings.

It is learnt that Raja wants to contradict the statement made by attorney general GE Vahanvati before the Committee that the controversial press note regarding 2G licences was changed at the last minute by the former telecom minister in 2008 with a different pen. Vahanvati was then the solicitor general.

Raja, a prime accused in the 2G spectrum allocation scam case, had recently made a strong pitch to appear before the JPC as a witness after Vahanvati blamed him for various issues before the panel.

He has also been blamed for the 2G scam by other witnesses before the special CBI court.

"The truth of the matter is being suppressed on the basis of preconceived notions, deliberate bias, faulty investigation and erroneous conclusions."

"...perhaps the most telling example of this situation is the judgement of the Hon'ble Supreme Court dated 02.02.2012, where specific and prejudicial observations were made against me without giving me a hearing," Raja had written in a letter to Speaker Meira Kumar last month.