2G: CBI, Govt oppose probe against Chidambaram

Yet again, the CBI on Tuesday remained reluctant to start a probe against Home Minister P Chidambaram, saying there was nothing new in the finance ministry note.
The government also opposed any investigation against Chidambaram while making a point that the Supreme court should stop monitoring the case as it was being heard in the trial court.

With twist and turns being obvious in the high-profile case, face-off between the CBI and the government surfaced on Tuesday as the investigative agency clearly said that the central government should stop speaking on its behalf in the court and the question of looking into the new documents doesn't arise.
Earlier, the Central government had made a submission on Tuesday morning stating that the new documents filed for the first time before the court will be studied and considered by the CBI as usual and may be covered in the next status report.
However, Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy, who is also the petitioner in the case, claimed that CBI had ignored the documents he had provided against Chidambaram.
Former telecom minister A Raja's lawyer also argued against investigating Chidambaram's role, saying that such a move would delay the case.
The case was adjourned till Wednesday.
In a new development, senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan will argue for a probe by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) in the case when the hearing resumes on Wednesday.
CBI told the Supreme Court that there was nothing new in the finance ministry note and also slammed the centre for making a statement on its behalf.
Meanwhile, Congress on Tuesday said that there was no question of Chidambaram's resignation and denied making a comment in the case, saying it will not comment on the proceedings inside a court as it is sub-judice.
"CBI is an independent body and they may decide what they want," the Congress said.
Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley said that what's happening in 2G case was not Congress internal matter.
"Then finance minister's role must be probed. Congress must respond to the finance ministry note on 2G," he said.
Last week also, the CBI had opposed any inquiry against the Home Minister after Swamy filed documents showing Chidambaram's alleged involvement.
The Central Government has been opposing any intervention by the Supreme Court on grounds that once a charge sheet has been filed, only the trial court should decide on the matter.
An official Finance Ministry document, accessed by RTI activist Vivek Garg, has cast doubts over the role of Home Minister P Chidambaram, who was then finance minister, in the January 2008 decision of former telecom minister A Raja to issue 2G spectrum licences.
On March 25, 2011, Dr PGS Rao, Deputy Director in the Finance Ministry, sent an office memorandum to Vini Mahajan, Joint Secretary in the Prime Minister's Office, regarding allocation and pricing of 2G spectrum. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee approved the note after personally inspecting the 11-page document.
The note categorically stated that the Department of Telecom (DoT) would have been forced to cancel the 2G licences doled out by Raja, had the Ministry of Finance under Chidambaram, stuck to its original demand for auctioning the initial 'start-up spectrum' of 4.4 megahertz each allotted to the 2008 licensees.