DMK MP K Kanimozhi is the latest of the 2G accused to have named prime minister Manmohan Singh and the then union finance (now home) minister P Chidambaram in their defence statements. However, as a first, her statement also figures union telecom minister Kapil Sibal.

Kanimozhi told the court on Tuesday that Singh, Chidamabaram and Sibal were "good enough" witnesses to prove that there was no loss incurred in the allocation of 2G spectrum.

"They are (sic) on record in parliament that the government did not incur any loss," her lawyer argued.

Kanimozhi said that in 2008, when A Raja of DMK was the telecom minister, the prime minister and the then finance minister were aware that Raja had decided not to auction the spectrum, opting instead for a first-come, first-served policy.

Raja has also been arrested - he is accused of selling licences to mobile networks and accompanying frequencies at hefty bargains for kickbacks.

One of those companies - Swan Telecom- allegedly routed a Rs 214-core kickback to Raja via Tamil Nadu-based TV channel Kalaignar TV that is partly owned by Kanimozhi, whose father M Karunanidhi heads the DMK.  The party is a member of the UPA coalition at the centre; Kanimozhi's arrest has considerably strained the relations between her party and the Congress.

Another senior DMK leader, Dayanidhi Maran, was also forced to resign a few months ago after the CBI said it had evidence to suggest that when he was telecom minister (before Raja), he also misused his office to benefit his family and friends.

Raja has been charged with cheating and criminal conspiracy; he has also been accused of ignoring the advice of other members of the government to auction licenses, which would have meant higher revenue for the government.

"I am showing you (judge) the minutes of the meeting in which the prime minister, the then finance minister and the telecom minister decided that the licences for the 2G spectrum was not to be sold/auctioned," senior advocate Sushil Kumar, appearing for Kanimozhi, told the judge conducting the 2G trial in Delhi.

The telecom scam, according to the CBI, which is investigating the case, has cost the government nearly Rs 30,000 crores.

Kanimozhi's lawyer said the CBI's case is based on  the premise that the absence of an auction was responsible for these huge losses.