Aseervatham Achary says former minister had close links with Unitech and DB Realty.
Aseervatham Achary, additional private secretary to former telecom minister A Raja, on Monday testified before the CBI special court about the association between real estate companies — Unitech and DB Realty — and the jailed DMK member of Parliament from the days when he was the environment minister. Achary compared spectrum allocation under Raja with distribution of ration cards in Tamil Nadu.
The testimony given by Achary, is being seen as damaging for the 2G scam accused, most of whom are out on bail now. Raja was taken in judicial custody in February and he has been in Tihar Jail since then for the alleged 2G spectrum allocation scam of 2007-08. Of the 14 accused in the 2G case, 12 were granted bail recently. Raja and former telecom secretary Siddharth Behura is still in jail.
Achary named Unitech's Sanjay Chandra, Swan Telecom and D B Realty’s Vinod Goenka and Shahid Balwa respectively as having close links with Raja since his tenure at the environment ministry during 2004 to 2007.
He said that Raja allocated spectrum in the same way as ration cards were distributed in Tamil Nadu. Achary also said that Kanimozhi, DMK MP and 2G accused, used to visit Raja’s office often during his tenure as the minister for telecommunications and IT.
Achary stood by his testimony recorded by Bhavna Kalra, Metropolitan Magistrate in the Patiala House Court; and it is admissible as evidence in court. In his statement before the trial court, Achary said the big construction projects cleared by Raja as minister of environment and forests include those of Unitech and D B Realty, besides others.
Achary told the court that Chandra, Goenka and Balwa used to meet Raja and his secretary Chandolia on a regular basis. “They used to meet him at his residence and at the ministry of environment and forest office,” he said.
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Achary said Kanimozhi was in regular touch with Raja. “Kanimozhi and Sharad Kumar (also a 2G accused) were pursuing the case of Kalaignar TV,” he added. Achary also identified Raja's signature on a letter to the Prime Minister dated November 2, 2007 detailing spectrum pricing and the changes in the first come first serve policy.
“This letter was dictated and typed at the official residence of Raja after 9pm and before 11:30 pm…Raja told me that a letter had come from the PM and that he would have to reply to it then and there,” Achary told.
Raja’s former additional private secretary also talked about his conversation with Niira Radia (the controversial public relations honcho whose taped conversations with ministers, bureaucrats and journalists made news) when she had called him to convey to Raja how she had managed to get Kalaignar TV on the Tata Sky platform. Radia’s firm Vaishnavi was managing the Tata account at that point.
Achary narrated an incident about Raja shouting at the former secretary in the Ministry of Communications and IT, D S Mathur. When I asked Raja as to why he was shouting at Mathur, the minister replied that “this man is not listening to me”, claimed Acharya. Achary’s cross examination will continue tomorrow in the trial court.