Appearing in court on Monday in the 2G spectrum scam trial former telecom minister A Raja said prime minister Manmohan Singh and the then finance minister P Chidambaram were aware of the spectrum allocation decisions that landed him in jail.

Raja was arrested in November for selling mobile network licenses and 2G spectrum while he was telecom minister in 2008 to companies that were ineligible. A spin-off from the alleged scam is that two of those companies - Unitech Wireless and DB Realty - then sold equity to foreign companies - Telenor in the case of Unitech and Etisalat in the case of DB Realty. The Indian companies made huge profits - they had been sold the licenses at throwaway rates, but were able to sell them at huge mark-ups, leading to the conclusion that they had profited at the cost of the government.

"Where is the crime? Where is the conspiracy? Telenor buying a stake in Unitech Wireless and Etisalat buying a stake in DB Realty was totally legal as per the corporate law. The finance minister approved the sale in the presence of the PM. Let the prime minister deny it," Raja told the court.

Raja has been questioned about why he decided against auctioning spectrum instead of awarding licenses on a first-come-first-serve basis. "If the policy pursued by me was wrong, then all former telecom ministers since 1993 should also be jail with me," said Mr Raja in a Delhi court this morning.

Like his party, the DMK, Raja has stressed that he followed the policies introduced by his predecessors in the NDA government that was in power till 2004, when the UPA coalition was elected.

He said, "As telecom minister Arun Shourie distributed 26 licences while Dayanidhi Maran distributed 25 and I distributed 122 licences. Numbers make no difference, however, it is to be noted that none of them auctioned the spectrum. If they had done no wrong, why am I being questioned? Let them deny that they have not done what I did. I was just following the 2003 cabinet decision that is not to auction 2G spectrum. If I am following the law, I am not liable to be prosecuted. In fact, I should be rewarded."

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PM, PC should step down: BJP

Harping on former telecom minister A Raja implicating prime minister Manmohan Singh and home minister P Chidambaram in the 2G spectrum scam, Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari on Monday said they have no right to continue in the posts "even for one minute."

He asserted that Raja's statement on record in the trial court in the course of his defence is clearly a "direct evidence" of their hand in the scam and hence both PM and Chidambaram should resign since they have lost all rights politically, constitutionally and morally to remain in power.

Gadkari also challenged Congress president Sonia Gandhi to take action against both to prove her commitment she repeatedly claims to fight corruption. Telecom minister Kapil Sibal, however, condemned Gadkari for treating claims of an accused person in the court arguments as true evidence, saying it is unfortunate for the president of a national party to go public to demand resignations without waiting for the court decision.

BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad hit back Sibal, asserting that Sonia Gandhi whom Gadkari asked to react presented a person who came out with a statement immediately after becoming the telecom minister that the CAG report on Rs 1.76 lakh crore loss is useless and that there was zero loss in the 2G spectrum allocation.

Chidambaram gave no credence to the stand taken by Raja's lawyer in the court, pointing out that it is useful for an accused in a criminal case trying to deflect heat on him by making such allegations. It is for the court to accept or reject allegations made in the course of the hearing, he said.

The Congress was, however, upset at Raja tarnishing the PM's name and wanted that the DMK should suspend him from the party. It creates complications for the DMk too. How does DMK supremo M Karunanidhi expect help in getting his daughter MP Kanimozhi out on bail when such charges are levelled by one of its senior leader?

The prime minister's office (PMO) asked the law ministry to depute a senior law officer to counter Raja's charge against the PM and the home minister in the CBI court to ensure it does not form part of the order the judge passes on framing of the charges.

The DMK MPs, who have been meeting Raja in the court as also in Tihar Jails here, say his outburst against the prime minister was expected and he also targeted Chidambaram as part of the Tamil Nadu politics since he suspects Chidambaram's pressure on the CBI to turn the 2G scam into a DMK scam to protect the Congress from being blamed.

They said Raja had wanted to make a statement in parliament after he was forced to resign in November in the wake of the CAG report on the Rs 1.76 lakh crores, but the Congress put pressure on DMK to stop him. Had he been allowed to speak in Parliament as every minister is entitled on resignation, he might not have made statements in the court that have legal implications, the DMK MPs said.