I only followed my master's instructions, says Raja's former secy Chandolia

New Delhi: RK Chandolia, the former private secretary to A Raja, today claimed innocence in the 2G case before a Delhi court, saying that he merely followed the instructions of his “master”, the former Telecom Minister. Advancing his arguments opposing framing of charges against him, Chandolia said he was only an official to assist Raja in day-to-day work. “A Raja was the (telecom) minister and my master. I merely carried out his instructions,” advocate Vijay Agarwal, appearing for Chandolia, told Special CBI judge OP Saini. [caption id=“attachment_50493” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Advancing his arguments opposing framing of charges against him, Chandolia said he was only an official to assist Raja in day-to-day work. PTI”]  [/caption] “I was his (Raja’s) sophisticated helper. I am only an extra assisting hand to carry out instructions of my master. Can I question my master? How can an assisting staff be roped in by the CBI?” he asked. He submitted he is not a person associated with the DMK, Kalaignar TV or any other telecom company. Chandolia, who began his arguments today opposing framing of charges against him, also challenged the CBI to show a single document as evidence on which he has put his signature. Before he began his arguments, the court dismissed his plea seeking interim bail on the ground that the CBI lacks proper sanction to prosecute him in the case. Earlier, Raja and former telecom secretary Siddhartha Behura had concluded their arguments on framing of charges during which they had sought to drag Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saying he was aware of decisions taken by Raja. They had also sought to make the then Finance Minister and present Home Minister P Chidambaram a witness in the case saying he was privy to the decision allowing dilution of equities in Swan Telecom and Unitech Wireless. They had also contended that Attorney General GE Vahanvati, who was the then Solicitor General, had approved a press release and the changes that Raja allegedly made in the first-come-first-serve policy for spectrum allocation. Behura had also named RBI Governor D Subbarao accusing him of not revising the spectrum licence fee when he was the finance secretary. PTI