Will 'Chidambaram's secret' in 2G scam case be revealed today?

In the coastal Tamil Nadu town of Chidambaram is a famous temple for Shiva , which is considered one of the foremost places of worship for devotees of the Lord of Destruction . There is a legend associated with the temple, which holds that only when the curtain of illusion is parted will the true nature of divinity be revealed. That abstract philosophical exploration is referred to as the Chidambara Rahasiyam (Chidambaram’s secret). Proceedings in the rather more material world may reveal another kind of Chidambara Rahasiyam today. [caption id=“attachment_201676” align=“alignright” width=“380” caption=“Day of judgement for P Chidambaram. Reuters”] [/caption] CBI special judge OP Saini is to rule today on whether there is prima facie evidence against Home Minister P Chidambaram in the 2G scam, as alleged by Subramanian Swamy based on letters and jottings in government files that bear all of the dark secrets associated with India’s biggest corruption scandal. A week in which the UPA government was whiplashed by two adverse judgments by the Supreme Court in the 2G scam case could end with perhaps an even more damaging ruling against Chidambaram if the trial court pronounces judgement. The Supreme Court had on Thursday declined to decide on Chidambaram’s role, noting that Judge Saini’s court was seized of the matter. So, what is at stake today, and what will it bring? Swamy himself appeared to be tamping down on heightened expectations of a ruling against Chidambaram today. On Friday, he told his loyal army of Twitter followers: “Don’t be disappointed if the PC order is not delivered tomorrow. Judge Saini is a careful person, and hence he would like to study SC Order.” Asked if this meant he wasn’t expecting a ruling today, Swamy responded to say that he was preparing his followers mentally for battle. “Work for victory, but it will not come linearly,” he added, cautioning against daily mood swings between euphoria and despair. The case against Chidambaram relates to his action in 2008, when he was finance minister; Swamy alleges that Chidambaram did not stop the then Communication Minister A Raja from allocating 2G spectrum to 122 companies, and that the CBI ought to investigate his role in the scam. The CBI, however, says it has already examined Chidambaram’s role and that it did not find any criminal culpability against him. The comments/arguments by both Swamy and the CBI are based on one file (bearing number 20/100 and now in the custody of Judge Saini), which contains letters written by Chidambaram, Raja and Prime Minister Manmohan singh and senior bureaucrats of the PMO, and the finance and telecom ministries. This file reveals that Chidambaram was in a position to stop Raja from signing the licence agreements, though the latter had already issued letters of intent (LoIs) on 10 January 2007. Chidambaram then endorsed Raja’s LoIs by recommending to the PM in a letter dated 15 January that the matter be “closed”. ( Read Firstpost’s exclusive report on Chidambaram’s letter here .) Other internal communications mentioned in the file — between Raja, Manmohan Singh and the finance ministry — also reveal that all three knew that Raja was pursuing his first-cum-first-served policy to handle hundreds of applications that had come for the licences and 2G spectrum. The file with Judge Saini has 1,200 pages and documents. It has one damning fact against Chidambaram: he had cleared a 60 percent equity dilution in Unitech. Norway-based Telenor had bought shares worth Rs 6,200 crore in the joint venture even before Unitech rolled out its services. Does this mean that “equity dilution” can be equated with selling of a telecom licence? Swamy had earlier told Firstpost: “There is a bar on selling a telecom licence for at least three years after a telecom company is allocated spectrum. This CBI file shows (the) ingenious and crooked ideas and methods that Chidambaram adopted for share/equity dilutions in telecom companies. He allowed dilution of shares/equity to an extent that it was as good as selling stakes of the company.’’ The CBI contends that Chidambaram had not violated any laws because foreign direct investment rules allowed foreigners to invest upto 74 percent in a telecom company and Chidambaram was within his powers to approve Telenor’s stake. The CBI says “equity dilution” is an accepted norm. All the telecom companies, like Tata Teleservices, Idea, Airtel and even AT&T have consistently diluted their equity in the past. “If this is criminal culpability, then the CBI will have to initiate action against ministers and officials of the ministry of finance, ministry of corporate affairs and even the minister of law and justice, because all of them are party to equity dilutions. Even the Foreign Investment Promotion Board and the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs had permitted equity dilution, which, they think, is not outright sale of spectrum,’’ a senior CBI official said. That’s what is at stake today, when Judge Saini delivers (if he does) his ruling. Stand by for live coverage from Firstpost to know if “Chidambaram’s secret” will be revealed today.