CBI grills Arun Shourie in 2G case

Former telecom minister Arun Shourie was questioned for three hours by the CBI on Friday in connection with the 2G scam probe.

Former telecom minister Arun Shourie was questioned for three hours by the CBI on Friday in connection with the 2G scam probe.

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Shourie submitted a 53-page document to investigators detailing his account of the case. Vinod Vaish, who was telecom secretary during Shourie's term as the telecom minister, was also questioned.

Shourie was the telecom minister between January 2003 and May 2004. After his questioning, Shourie advised former telecom minister and prime accused in the 2G scam A Raja to turn approver in the case in order to reveal names of real beneficiaries of the scam.

He also alleged that that his successor Dayanidhi Maran had tweaked the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) guidelines in 2005 that ultimately benefited some telecom operators. Shourie also claimed that he cited several instances to the investigators of alleged irregularities during Maran's tenure.

He said that during Maran's tenure, one sentence was added into the guidelines that there shall be no cap on the number of operators in a circle. But only TRAI could have recommended this kind of change and TRAI did not recommend it till 2007. How could Maran anticipate this recommendation two years in advance? He also targeted Shivraj Patil committee's report, saying these "signatures for hire" (referring to Patil) did not see the documents themselves.

Shourie also told reporters that he had requested the presence of Vaish and some other officials because of their technical knowledge about the issue.