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A Raja GALLERY.
strongNew Delhi/strong: A PMO official today identified in a Delhi court the letters exchanged between erstwhile Telecom Minister A Raja and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in November-December 2007 on the issue of 2G spectrum allocation. Deposing in the court as a CBI witness, Pushpendra Kumar Sharma, a section officer in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), identified the letters written by Raja, the key accused in the 2G case, to the Prime Minister on 2 November, 2007 and 26 December, 2007 respectively. He told Special CBI Judge O P Saini that he had sent a letter to CBI on 9 March, 2011 through which he had sent the correspondence mentioned therein to the agency on its prayer. The correspondence sent by me to the CBI includes letter of A Raja to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh dated November 2, 2007... and another letter of the same date from A Raja to the Prime Minister... It also included, he said, Letter of 26 December, 2007 written by A Raja to the Prime Minister along with its annexures. [caption id=attachment_536280 align=alignleft width=380 strongNew Delhi/strong: A PMO offic
The Attorney General of India GE Vahanvati continued to be in the firing line of the defence lawyers on the second day of his deposition as prosecution witness before a special CBI court in the 2G trial. A Raja, former telecom minister and prime accused in the 2G spectrum case, continued with his aggressive line of cross-examination that suggested that Vahanvati had defended the controversial 'amended' press release at tribunals, the high court and the Supreme Court between 2008 and 2009. (Vahanvati was Solicitor General of India between June 2004 and June 2009 before he became Attorney General.) The controversial press release issued on January 10, 2008 dealt with the manner in which the Letters of Intent (LOIs) were planned to be issued to applicants for telecom licenses. Raja has been charged by the court for conspiring with his then telecom secretary Siddhartha Behura of striking off the last paragraph from the press release that had been shown to and okayed by Vahanvati, then Solicitor General of India. The paragraph that was struck off read: However, if more than one applicant complies with LOI condition on the same date, the inter-se seniority would be decided by the date of the application. The charge on Raja is that by shuffling the priority from date of application to the time of compliance of LOIs, and directing it to be made a policy directive in conspiracy with Siddhartha Behura and R K Chandolia he manipulated the procedure to benefit Unitech Wireless and Swan Telecom. Yesterday too, Vahanvati was grilled by Raja over the press release where his line of cross examination suggested that the last paragraph of the press release which was struck off was never part of the draft press release that was shown to Vahanvati. (a href=http://www.firstpost.com/business/2g-trial-a-raja-goes-on-offensive-against-attorney-general-642441.htmlRead full report/a) [caption id=attachment_644276 align=alignleft width=380 The Attorney General of India GE Va
An aggressive line of cross examination by the lawyer of A Raja, the prime accused in the 2G spectrum case, saw the Attorney General of India GE Vahanvati get visibly upset more than once, forcing him at one point to urge the public prosecutor to direct Raja's lawyer to desist from commenting on his responses during the cross-examination. Vahanvati, who served as Solicitor General of India between June 2004 and June 2009 before he became the Attorney General, is deposing as a prosecution witness before the special CBI court which is hearing the 2G case. The cross examination of Vahanvati went through some tense moments with emotional outbursts from Raja, who insisted that the witness be compelled to answer a specific question, which Raja said Vahanvati had refused to answer. This is my last hope in this court, he told the judge. He went on to say that if he was proved wrong, I won't fight this case, I'll go back to jail. [caption id=attachment_642443 align=alignleft width=380 An aggressive line of cross examina
If you are wondering what JPC stands for, here's one expansion: Joint Protection Committee. The Joint Parliamentary Committee, whose basic brief is to get to the bottom of the 2G spectrum scam, is a shrinking lily when it comes to even calling for evidence. Andimuthu Raja, the prime accused in the scam and who is now under trial in the Special Court of OP Saini, has been shouting from the rooftops call me, call me, but the JPC has turned a deaf ear. A week ago, when it seemed incredible that the JPC could not call the prime accused to say his piece, Chairman PC Chacko asked Raja to make a written deposition. There can be only one reason for this: calling him to the JPC means the opposition can ask him all kinds of questions that will have to go into the record. It could also create the basis for a dissenting report by the outnumbered opposition members - precisely the kind of thing that will knock the credibility off the main JPC report. The JPC has been wary about calling not only Raja, but also the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister, both key players in the 2G saga. The JPC chief has been trying to avoid this on the grounds that Prime Ministers are never called, but the opposition has tried to point out that it is empowered to take a different tack in the interests of truth. Even by offering to bring forth NDA ministers before the JPC has not moved Chacko. [caption id=attachment_663137 align=alignleft width=380 If you are wondering what JPC stand
strongNew Delhi:/strong A former senior official of the Department of Telecom (DoT) today told a Delhi court that erstwhile Telecom Minister A Raja wanted a faster procedure to give the 2G licences to the applicant firms. Deposing as a prosecution witness, DoT's erstwhile Member (Technology) K Sridhara said the first-come-first-served (FCFS) policy was changed during Raja's tenure as the department had received a large number of applications for the Unified Access Service Licences (UASL). Sridhara said there was no problem in continuing with the existing FCFS policy, but Raja wanted a procedure by which licences could be distributed faster to the eligible telecom firms. [caption id=attachment_520915 align=alignleft width=380 strongNew Delhi:/strong A former se
strongNew Delhi/strong: Former Telecom Minister A Raja, who has expressed his willingness to appear before the Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G spectrum as a witness, could be asked to submit his stand in writing instead of deposing personally before the panel. Sources in the JPC said that panel Chairman P C Chacko is set to tell Raja that instead of appearing before JPC as a witness, he can submit a rebuttal note on the statement made by Attorney General G E 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's note could form part of the JPC proceedings after being circulated to members. [caption id=attachment_653148 align=alignleft width=380 strongNew Delhi/strong: Former Tele
In this photo taken Thursday, June 21, 2012, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf is seen as he leaves the Parliament in Islamabad, Pakistan after filing his nomination as a candidate for the premiership. The announcement of Raja Pervaiz Ashraf as premier-designate followed a week of turbulence that pitted the Supreme Court against the government. The crisis was triggered earlier this week when the high court disqualified the current prime minister over a corruption probe. In this photo taken Thursday, June
strongNew Delhi:/strong Non-Congress parties in the JPC on the 2G spectrum issue may be unhappy that prime accused and former Telecom minister A Raja was not summoned despite his willingness to depose but the Public Accounts Committee is still open to the proposal to hear him. Well placed sources on Monday said Parliament's PAC, headed by Murli Manohar Joshi, has not yet closed the option of calling Raja to hear his views on the Rs 1.76 Lakh crore 2G spectrum scam. Though there is no such proposal to call Raja as of now, he can always be called if the panel so desires, a senior leader said. He said PAC's draft report on the 2G scam is still part of the unfinished agenda of th [caption id=attachment_738897 align=alignleft width=380 strongNew Delhi:/strong Non-Congres
strongNew Delhi:/strong The Enforcement Directorate has questioned former Telecom Minister A Raja in connection with its money laundering probe in the 2G spectrum case. This is the first time that the ED has questioned Raja in the case. During questioning, ED investigators grilled Raja on various issues related to spectrum allocation under his ministership and also about his personal finances, sources said. [caption id=attachment_375309 align=alignleft width=380 strongNew Delhi:/strong The Enforce
strongNew Delhi:/strong A court here holding the trial of the 2G spectrum case on Tuesday asked former telecom minister A Raja to commence cross-examination of a key witness from September 10. The court on Monday had allowed the plea of Raja that he will cross-examine A K Srivastava, a former deputy director general (AS) of the Department of Telecom (DoT), after co-accused and Swan Telecom Shahid Usman Balwa completes the cross-examination of the witness. During the proceeding today, Raja sought time to cross examine Srivastava saying his counsel Sushil Kumar was not available during this week. [caption id=attachment_443560 align=alignleft width=380 strongNew Delhi:/strong A court her
In this photo taken Thursday, June 21, 2012, Raja Pervaiz Ashrafi is seen as he leaves the Parliament in Islamabad, Pakistan after filing his nomination as a candidate for the premiership. The announcement of Raja Pervaiz Ashraf as premier-designate followed a week of turbulence that pitted the Supreme Court against the government. The crisis was triggered earlier this week when the high court disqualified the current prime minister over a corruption probe. In this photo taken Thursday, June
In this photo taken Thursday, June 21, 2012, Pakistani lawmakers greet Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, second from left, as he leaves the Parliament in Islamabad, Pakistan after filing his nomination as a candidate for the premiership. The announcement of Raja Pervaiz Ashraf as premier-designate followed a week of turbulence that pitted the Supreme Court against the government. The crisis was triggered earlier this week when the high court disqualified the current prime minister over a corruption probe. In this photo taken Thursday, June
CORRECTS NAME SPELLING - In this photo taken Thursday, June 21, 2012, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf is seen as he leaves the Parliament in Islamabad, Pakistan after filing his nomination as a candidate for the premiership. The announcement of Raja Pervaiz Ashraf as premier-designate followed a week of turbulence that pitted the Supreme Court against the government. The crisis was triggered earlier this week when the high court disqualified the current prime minister over a corruption probe. CORRECTS NAME SPELLING - In this ph
Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf speaks during a joint press conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, unseen, at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, July 19, 2012. Cross-border fighting and stalled negotiations with the Taliban were the main topics of discussion at a three-way meeting between Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Cameron. Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Perva
strongNew Delhi:/strong Former Telecom Minister A Raja will start tomorrow cross-examining a key prosecution witness in the 2G spectrum allocation scam case in a Delhi court. Raja, who is facing trial in the case, had earlier sought Special CBI Judge O P Saini's permission to defer his cross-examination of prosecution witness and Department of Telecom's former Deputy Director General (AS) A K Srivastava, due to unavailability of his counsel Sushil Kumar. Srivastava testimony assumes significance in the 2G case as he had deposed that Raja, being the then telecom minister, was the final authority to take decisions on policy matters in the DoT. [caption id=attachment_449164 align=alignright width=380 strongNew Delhi:/strong Former Tele
Finance Minister P Chidambaram's exoneration by the Supreme Court in the 2G scam may have come as a relief to him, but neither he nor the Prime Minister emerge from it smelling of roses. Reason: even while rejecting the petitioners' claim that Chidambaram and A Raja had conspired to execute the scam, the Supreme Court seemed to suggest that Chidambaram and the PM may have made wrong judgments, or managed the issue poorly. Worse, the court also noted that even though Raja had communicated to the PM about the changes he was making in the first-come-first-served (FCFS) policy for telecom licences and spectrum, the latter did not get back. This meant the PMO had no objections to Raja's method of licence allocation.[caption id=attachment_429656 align=alignleft width=380 Finance Minister P Chidambaram's ex
The two people who will be thrilled with Wednesday's failed spectrum auctions will be Andimuthu Raja and Kapil Sibal. The former because people will say maybe his spectrum price wasn't all that wrong. The latter because he can now claim vindication for his zero-loss theory. Actually, the flop show is a vindication of neither Raja nor Sibal. Raja is in the dock not for his flawed pricing, but for the way he allegedly fiddled with the first-come-first-served process to favour some parties. Sibal is wrong not because the loss figure provided by the Comptroller and Auditor General (Rs 1.76 lakh crore) was way off, but because he defended the indefensible: sale of 2008 spectrum at a non-market determined price of 2001. It was not something the PM and FM wanted, but they changed their stories after Raja was caught fooling around with the process and sent to jail. Here are a few observations on the failed auctions and the implications. [caption id=attachment_524453 align=alignleft width=380 The two people who will be thrilled
He may have recently reclaimed the title of born-again reformer, but the image of Manmohan Singh as the man who wrung his hands in despair while A Raja robbed his treasury refuses to go away. In fact, it has come back looking truer than ever. As early as September last year, a href=http://www.firstpost.com/politics/cbi-note-shows-pm-chidu-had-43-days-to-stop-raja-but-didnt-89807.htmlemFirstpost/em documented /ahow both the PM and Finance Minister P Chidambaram could have stopped Raja from issuing telecom licences and spectrum at 2001 prices if they had wanted to. Even though Raja announced the issue of licences on 10 January 2008, it was not till the end of February that the actual letters of intent were issued. The PM and the FM had time to act, but didn't. [caption id=attachment_561743 align=alignleft width=380 He may have recently reclaimed the
Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, left, joins hand with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, center, and British Prime Minister David Cameron, right, ahead of a trilateral meeting at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, July 19, 2012. Cross-border fighting and stalled negotiations with the Taliban were the main topics of discussion at a three-way meeting between Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Cameron. Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Perva
Pakistan's new Prime Minister, Raja Pervez Ashraf (C), places rose petals on the grave of slain former Pakistani premier Benazir Bhutto at the Bhutto family mausoleum in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh on June 24, 2014. MPs elected Raja Pervez Ashraf as Pakistan's new prime minister in a bid to end a crisis sparked by judges ousting the premier and demanding the arrest of his would-be successor. Pakistan's new Prime Minister, Raja
British Prime Minister David Cameron, center, talks with Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, right, and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, far left, during a trilateral meeting at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, July 19, 2012. Cross-border fighting and stalled negotiations with the Taliban were the main topics of discussion at a three-way meeting between Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Cameron. British Prime Minister David Camero
Pakistan's new Prime Minister, Raja Pervez Ashraf (C), offers prayers along with party leaders over the grave of slain former Pakistani premier Benazir Bhutto at the Bhutto family mausoleum in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh on June 24, 2014. MPs elected Raja Pervez Ashraf as Pakistan's new prime minister in a bid to end a crisis sparked by judges ousting the premier and demanding the arrest of his would-be successor. Pakistan's new Prime Minister, Raja
strongNew Delhi:/strong The Enforcement Directorate is set to tighten its noose in the 2G spectrum allocations case as the agency will soon file its chargesheet against two of the main accused - former Telecom Minister A Raja and DMK leader Kanimozhi. Both Raja and Kanimozhi have been questioned by the ED quite a number of times and the agency is probing alleged money laundering and forex violations on the part of individuals, in the government and private, in the second generation spectrum awards case. The agency is probing Kanimozhi and others on the basis of FIR filed by the CBI in connection with the alleged channelling of Rs 200 crore to DMK family-run Kalaignar TV through a circuitous route. [caption id=attachment_633232 align=alignleft width=380 strongNew Delhi:/strong The Enforce
strongNew Delhi:/strong The Enforcement Directorate is set to tighten its noose in the 2G spectrum allocations case as the agency will soon file its charge sheet against two of the main accused - former Telecom Minister A Raja and DMK leader Kanimozhi. Both Raja and Kanimozhi have been questioned by the ED quite a number of times and the agency is probing alleged money laundering and forex violations on the part of individuals, in the government and private, in the second generation spectrum awards case.[caption id=attachment_633310 align=alignleft width=380 strongNew Delhi:/strong The Enforce
strongNew Delhi:/strong Former Union Minister A Raja, the main accused in 2G spectrum scam, and Suresh Kalmadi, accused in the Commonwealth Games scam, have been made members of two separate Parliamentary Standing Committees. In the latest panel reshuffle, Kalmadi,Congress member of the Lok Sabha, was included in the standing committee on external affairs while Raja, who represents DMK in the Lok Sabha, received a berth in the energy committee. The Parliamentary Standing Committees examine the bills and give suggestions to the proposed legislations related to the ministries concerned. [caption id=attachment_478242 align=alignleft width=380 strongNew Delhi:/strong Former Unio
Yasmeen Raja, chairperson of Muslim Khawateen Markaz, or Muslim Women's Center, holds placards as she shouts slogans during a protest in Srinagar, India, Monday, Sept. 17, 2012. The protest was held against an anti-Islam film called Yasmeen Raja, chairperson of Muslim
strongShimla:/strong In the chronically underdeveloped Shimla Rural segment from where charismatic State Congress Chief Virbhadra Singh is fighting elections, corruption appears to be a non-issue after the five-time former Himachal chief minister was hit by graft allegations. Steeped in feudal mindsets, the voters of this vast segment, spread across swathes of barren land, remain conscious of their loyalty to former royals, who are playing the personal and developmental cards to the hilt to win the electoral battle for the family patriarch Virbhadra Singh and his party. emRaja to raja hain ji....unko kya farak padta hai, woh to jitenge hi/em (A king is a king; how is he affected? He will win), quips Ram Chand, a local cab driver, when asked what he thought of the recent corruption allegations the BJP had levelled against the Congress veteran. Virbhadra Singh, 78, is a former ruler of Rampur Bushahr family. Ram Chand's sentiment finds a resonance across villages when a visiting emPTI/em correspondent criss-crossed this newly carved constituency where Virbhadra Singh has campaigned only once since elections for the 68-member Himachal Assembly were announced. [caption id=attachment_506379 align=alignleft width=380 strongShimla:/strong In the chronic
strongNew Delhi:/strong Backing former Telecom Minister A Raja's plea to be summoned as a witness before the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), BJP today said a meeting of the panel should be called at the earliest to take a final call on summoning the key player in the 2G scam. Senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, who is a member of the JPC, has written to panel Chairman P C Chako asking him to call a meeting at the earliest to decide on summoning Raja as witness. [caption id=attachment_646802 align=alignleft width=380 strongNew Delhi:/strong Backing for
Pakistan's Prime Minister-elect Raja Pervez Ashraf smiles during a meeting with Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain (not in picture) head of coalition party Pakistan Muslim League Quaid (PML-Q) in Islamabad June 22, 2012. Pakistan's parliament on Friday elected former water and power minister and ruling party member Raja Pervez Ashraf as the new prime minister. Ashraf replaces Yusuf Raza Gilani, who was disqualified by the Supreme Court this week for refusing to reopen corruption cases against Pakistan's president. Pakistan's Prime Minister-elect Raj
strongNew Delhi:/strong In further trouble for Congress in the JPC, Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh has made it clear that his party will not support the draft report on 2G scam unless former Telecom Minister A Raja is allowed to depose before it. The 30-member Committee already has 15 members who are opposed to the draft report and are demanding removal of its chief P C Chacko. They have also been demanding that Raja be allowed to depose to present his case. [caption id=attachment_738841 align=alignleft width=380 strongNew Delhi:/strong In further