Back2G: CBI against probing home minister’s role
2G: CBI against probing home minister’s role
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New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that it had concluded its investigations into the “A. Raja conspiracy" part of the so-called second generation , or 2G, spectrum scam, and expressed reluctance to reopen the case to probe the role of then finance minister P. Chidambaram.
The agency was replying to an application filed by Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy claiming that Chidambaram and Raja were equally responsible for fixing the price of spectrum and the entry fee for new operators.
“Swamy cannot ask this court to direct CBI to investigate P. Chidambaram or to conduct its investigation in any specific way," argued the federal investigation agency’s counsel K. K. Venugopal. “This is outside the jurisdiction (of this court). A special court is seized of the matter. The whole matter is at the stage of trial. The investigation was closed, rightly or wrongly."
The bench, comprising justices G. S. Singhvi and A. K. Ganguly, was not entirely satisfied with CBI’s response, although it has not yet finished hearing arguments on the issue.
“He (Swamy) is asking that the CBI should investigate a particular angle in which a particular person many be involved. It may be in view of a subsequent disclosure of facts," said the court.
Swamy’s application said he found evidence of Chidambaram’s alleged involvement only recently.
The court asked CBI’s counsel why it could not further investigate the matter.
Under section 173(8) of the Criminal Procedure Code, it is provided that an agency can place before a court any new evidence which comes to light even after it has filed an earlier report.
nikhil.k@livemint.com
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