New Delhi, November 20
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had been prompt in asking his officials to “examine” the letters received from Janata Party President Subramanium Swamy on the 2G scam but a reply was sent to Swamy after 16 months as bureaucrats in the PMO, Law Ministry and the Department of Personnel took time to agree on the response, states the affidavit filed by the PMO in the Supreme Court today.

The 11-page affidavit revealed that the matter was pending with the Law Ministry for more than eight months. Director, V Vidyavati, in the PMO filed the document in the apex court.

On November 18, the Bench comprising Justices GS Singhvi and AK Ganguly had expressed its displeasure at the long time taken by the Prime Minister for responding to Swamy’s request for permission to prosecute the then Telecom Minister A Raja for the scam, estimated at Rs 1.76 lakh crore by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG). The Bench had directed that an affidavit should be filed on behalf of the PM by today.

Swamy had written the first letter on November 29, 2008 and this was perused by the PM on December 1, 2008 and he noted, “Please examine and let me know the facts of this case.” Meanwhile, letters were received from MPs Gurudas Dasgupta and Suravaran Sudhakar Reddy and an advocate, Dr Anil Gopal Variath, on the scam and the PMO set the official process in motion on these communications as well.

Then Swamy’s second letter was received on May 30, 2009 on which the PM noted on June 1, “Please examine and discuss” and marked it to the Principal Secretary. Swamy wrote his third letter on October 23, 2009 which was seen by the PM on October 27. The PM again marked it to his Principal Secretary noting, “Please discuss.” Swamy’s fourth letter dated 31.10.2009 was received in the PMO on November 3 and the very next day the PM marked it to the Principal Secretary with a note: “please examine.”

A note was finally sent to the Law Ministry on May 29, 2009 seeking its advice. The Law Ministry took more than eight months to respond and sent its reply on February 8 this year. The Law Ministry said since Swamy himself had referred to the CBI investigation which had been ordered in the scam, a decision on giving permission to Swamy to prosecute Raja “may be determined only after” perusal of the evidence gathered by the agency. The Law Ministry also took the view that the PMO should consult the Department of Personnel before allowing prosecution against government officials as that department was dealing with this aspect.

Ultimately, a letter was sent to Swamy on March 19 this year, stating that his request for permission for prosecuting Raja was “premature” as the CBI probe was on.

In all, Swamy had shot off 11 letters to the PM, giving updates on various related developments such as the CAG report and the CBI probe, necessitating the PMO to cross check all this information. The affidavit implied that officials took time for responding because of these factors.

The SC Bench would resume the hearing in this case on November 23. Another petition seeking that SC should monitor the CBI probe would be heard on November 22.