New Delhi, August 23
Reiterating the stand taken by former telecom minister A.Raja in his defense last month, DMK MP Kanimozhi, named as co-conspirator in 2G Spectrum allocation scam today said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the then Finance Minister P. Chidambaram were fully aware of the 2G license allocations and the policy-decision was taken by the duo along with the Raja.

Appearing on behalf of Kanimozhi, senior counsel Sushil Kumar also presented before the Special CBI court the minutes of the meeting in which the “Prime Minister, the then Finance Minister and the Telecom Minister (Raja) decided that the licenses for the 2G spectrum was not to be sold/auctioned”.

Kumar argued that the Prime Minister, the then Finance Minister and the present Telecom Minister (Kapil Sibal) are 'good enough' as witnesses to prove that there was no loss to the exchequer. “They are on record in Parliament that the government did not incur any loss. The moment, the loss factor goes out, the charge of cheating also goes out," Kumar said adding that the basic foundation of the CBI case cannot sustain the legal process since it is based on the premise that the accused (Raja) caused huge loss to the state exchequer by not auctioning the licenses for the 2G Spectrum.

Kanimozhi has been accused of receiving Rs.210 crores of illegal gratification from 2G Spectrum beneficiary on behalf of Kalaingar TV where she is a 30 per cent share holder.

According to CBI chargesheet, the money is said to have come on the instructions of A.Raja with whom she is alleged to have conspired in allocating the Spectrum. The defence counsel also trashed the computation of loss by the CBI and the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) saying they are "just notional loss" and cannot be a basis for prosecution of the accused. "The CAG report (loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore) was laid before the House on November 16, 2010 but had not yet been adopted by it. It is still in the limbo," Kumar argued adding that even the computation of loss of Rs.30,984 crore by the CBI has no basis as it assumes that the government could have earned more by auctioning the licenses.

The 43-year-old Kanimozhi also termed her prosecution as "frivolous and malicious" and accused the CBI of suppressing the fact that she was a lawmaker and sanction of the Rajya Sabha Chairman was required for putting her on trial in 2G telecom Spectrum allocation scam.

"Her (Kanimozhi) name figures in the chargesheet as a private person. She, during her interrogation, told the CBI that she was an MP of Rajya Sabha. Still, they had the courage to say that she was a private person. This is the most frivolous and malicious prosecution,” said Kumar arguing that no MP can be prosecuted without prior approval either from Lok Sabha Speaker or Rajya Sabha Chairman and this suppression of fact by the CBI is sufficient to infer that it is a frivolous and malicious prosecution.

Kanimozhi, who is presently in judicial custody, would continue with her argument tomorrow opposing the charges of corruption and other penal offences against her. 

Kanimozhi has been accused of receiving Rs.210 crores of illegal gratification from 2G Spectrum beneficiary on behalf of Kalaingar TV where she is a 30 per cent share holder. According to CBI chargesheet, the money is said to have come on the instructions of A.Raja with whom she is alleged to have conspired in allocating the Spectrum.

They (PM, Chidambaram, Sibal) are on record in Parliament that the government did not incur any loss. The moment, the loss factor goes out, the charge of cheating also goes out.

— Kanimozhi’s defence counsel