Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday refused to comment on a letter sent by his ministry to prime minister Manmohan Singh on the 2G spectrum scam, saying he cannot make any remark on the matter is it is "subjudice".

"The matter is subjudice. I cannot make any comment on it. The whole matter is under the scrutiny of the supreme court of India. We cannot make any comment on any matter that is subjudice," Mukherjee, who is here to attend an India-US investor forum, told reporters here.

Separately, while addressing Indian and American business leaders at a high-profile USIBC roundtable, Mukherjee said the finance ministry letter to the prime minister's secretariat is out in the open only due to the right to information act, which is one of the many steps the government has taken to flush out corruption and make governance transparent and accountable.

He said in the recent years, lot of authority has been given to the people of India through the RTI.

"In fact today a sensational news item has come and it is through the exercise of the RTI. A note was sent by minister of finance to prime minister. Somebody demanded through the use of RTI to have the copy of that note from the prime minister's secretariat and... fact of the matter is somebody has produced that as a piece of evidence in a particular case," Mukherjee commented.

He said whether the letter can be used in such a manner or not "is a different story."

A finance ministry document submitted to the supreme court in India says the telecom ministry could have gone in for auction of 2G spectrum licenses had the then finance minister P Chidambaram insisted on this.

PC speaks with PM, assured of centre's confidence

Union home minister P Chidambaram called prime minister Manmohan Singh and discussed with him the issue of a finance ministry note on allocation of 2G spectrum which appeared to raise questions on his role.

The telephone call last night lasted 20 minutes during which the prime minister is believed to have expressed full faith in the integrity of the former finance minister and that he was ready to say this, according to sources today.

The sources said the prime minister also counselled Chidambaram to be patient till he returns home from New York on September 27.

The "secret" note was not shown to him, Singh is believed to have told Chidambaram, who was the finance minister during 2G spectrum allocation.

The March 25, 2011 document on allocation and pricing of 2G spectrum broadly suggests that Chidambaram could have insisted that the valuable resource could have been auctioned at the time the spectrum was sold on a first come, first served basis by the former telecom minister A Raja, now behind bars.

The note submitted to the supreme court on Wednesday was written by PGS Rao, deputy director in the finance ministry, to Vini Mahajan, joint secretary in the PMO.

The covering letter to the note also said that finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had seen the note.

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CPI(M) demands CBI probe against Chidambaram in 2G scam

New Delhi, Sep 22, (PTI)

The CPI(M) today demanded a CBI probe into the role of P Chidambaram, who was the finance minister when the 2G spectrum allocation scam took place, in view of the "mounting evidence" against him.

Referring to the note submitted by the finance ministry to the prime minister's office in March this year, the party said it had "authoritatively" shown that Chidambaram had then cleared the allotment of licences for 2G spectrum at the 2001 entry fee, "even though the finance secretary and his own Ministry had pointed out the need for its revision".

It said that "evidence has also come to light that a meeting between the then telecom minister A Raja and Chidambaram had taken place in January 2008 in which, according to the note prepared by the Finance Secretary, the finance minister had stated that they are not going to re-visit the issue of entry fee or revenue sharing".

The note had made "the pertinent observation that if the finance ministry had stuck to its earlier stand, the licences given could have been cancelled," CPI(M) Politburo said in a statement here.

In the light of "all this mounting evidence", the party demanded a CBI investigation into the role of Chidambaram in the 2G spectrum case.

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PC declines to comment on Fin Min note on 2G pricing

Gangtok, Sept 22 (PTI)

Union home minister P Chidambaram today declined to comment on the finance ministry note to the prime minister's office (PMO) that appeared to raise questions on his role in the controversial 2G spectrum allocation.

Chidambaram, who is on a visit to the quake-affected areas in Sikkim, was asked by newsmen here for his response to the note sent by the Ministry headed by Pranab Mukherjee but he refused to anwser the question.

The March 25, 2011 'secret note' on the allocation and pricing of 2G spectrum broadly suggests that the former finance minister could have insisted for an auction of the valuable resource at the time the spectrum was sold on a first come, first served basis when A Raja, now behind bars, was the telecom minister.

The note submitted to the Supreme Court yesterday by Janata party leader Subramanian Swamy during a hearing on his petition was written by PGS Rao, deputy director in the finance ministry, to Vini Mahajan, joint secretary in the PMO.

The covering letter to the note also said that Pranab Mukherjee had seen the document.