Former telecom cecretary Siddhartha Behura began his arguments in a Delhi court on Wednesday opposing framing of charges against him in the 2G spectrum case.

Behura's counsel told special CBI judge O P Saini that there is no evidence against him in this case.

"No iota of evidence is against the accused (Behura) in this case," senior advocate Aman Lekhi, appearing for Behura, said.

Lekhi said Behura was only a civil servant who had no role to play except implementing the government's policy.

He said the government is entitled to frame a policy in which it gives primacy to some of the aspects.

Behura's counsel submitted that a government's policy cannot be said as wrong merely because there is more than one opinion on a particular issue.

Behura was arrested on February 2, 2011 for his alleged involvement in the 2G scam. Under the first charge sheet filed in April 2, he is accused of criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery and criminal misconduct by a public servant.

Behura began his submissions after former telecom minister A Raja concluded his arguments opposing the framing of charges on Tuesday.

Raja, in his arguments, had tried to drag in prime minister Manmohan Singh and home minister P Chidambaram.

He had questioned as to why the prime minister, who had the power to constitute a group of ministers (GoM) on the issue, did not do so.

Raja had also pleaded that then finance minister P Chidambaram be made a witness in the case, saying he was privy to the decision allowing dilution of equities by Swan Telecom and Unitech Wireless to Dubai-based Etisalat and Norway-based Telenor.

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JPC begins questioning of former telecom sec in 2G case

New Delhi, Jul 27 (PTI) The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probing the 2G spectrum allocation scam on Wednesday started questioning a former telecom secretary who had served during the initial years of the NDA rule.

A V Gokak, who served as telecom secretary between November 1996 and August 1998, appeared before the JPC headed by Congress leader P C Chacko in connection with the 2G spectrum allocation scam.

A committee member said he was questioned about the telecom policy being pursued by the then government with regard to cellular operators.

Tomorrow, the JPC will record evidence of Gokak's successor Anil Kumar, who served as telecom secretary between August 1998 and February 2000.

The NDA Government had unveiled a migration policy in June 1999 during Kumar's tenure, allowing cellular operators to move from fixed licence fee regime to revenue-sharing model.

The department of telecom had told the JPC the migration policy had led to losses to the exchequer to the tune of Rs 43,523.92 crore.

The JPC is examining India's telecom pricing policy 1998-2008, that also covers the period of the NDA government led by the BJP that was in power 1998-2004.

The panel was formed following persistent demands by the Opposition after allegations surfaced of irregularities in the allocation of 2G licences.