2G scam: SC begins hearing plea against Chidambaram

New Delhi: The Supreme Court today began hearing the plea for investigating the alleged role of Home Minister P Chidambaram in the 2G spectrum scam with an NGO claiming that he was in the know of all developments relating to fixation of price for allocation of radio waves. The bench of justices GS Singhvi and S Radhakrishana, which was reconstituted after the retirement of Justice AK Ganguly, took up the plea of an NGO, Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), which approached the apex court after the trial court had given a clean chit to Chidambaram. [caption id=“attachment_266540” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“The NGO, on whose plea the apex court is monitoring the probe in the scam, contended that there is evidence showing that Chidambaram was “micromanaging everything. Reuters”]  [/caption] The court also directed the CBI, Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax Department to file a status report to update it on their probe in the 2G spectrum allocation case within three weeks. The application filed by CPIL submitted that a “thorough investigation” into Chidambaram’s role was required. Chidambaram was the Finance Minister when spectrum was allocated to telecom companies during the tenure of former Telecom Minister A Raja in 2008. A similar petition has also been filed by the Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy, which would also be taken up by the court. The NGO, on whose plea the apex court is monitoring the probe in the scam, contended that there is evidence showing that Chidambaram was “micromanaging everything and was keeping a close eye on all developments” on the spectrum allocation. The petitioner annexed a series of documents and media reports to substantiate its claim about the alleged involvement of Chidambaram in the scam. PTI