At around 3 p.m. on February 2, 2011, one terse sentence brought a chapter of the 2G spectrum scam to an end when a Central Bureau of Investigation officer told former telecommunications minister A Raja, "Mr Raja, you are under arrest", after four hours of questioning for the fourth time that month. Raja's arrest followed the interrogation of his brother A K Perumal about the funding of some front organisations owned by telecom companies that were allocated spectrum from October 2007 to January 2008. His former personal secretary R K Chandolia and former telecom secretary Siddhartha Behura were also arrested for allegedly abusing their official positions, and manipulating the tender procedure. They are all out on bail - Raja being the last to be released in May 2012. He can be spotted in Parliament frequently.
And now, Raja has written a letter to the Lok Sabha speaker, asking that the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) call him because he has something to say to the members. "The truth of the matter is being suppressed on the basis of preconceived notions, deliberate bias, faulty investigation and erroneous conclusions," he has written in his letter. His party, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), has backed his request and the party's members of Parliament (MPs) will press the issue at the next JPC meeting.
Clearly, behind this letter is a political game plan that goes beyond hurt feelings. What could it be?
The DMK, an ally of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA), contributes 18 MPs out of the 40 from Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry. Not just Raja, even when DMK supremo Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi went through a jail sentence, the DMK did not pull out from the Congress-led UPA coalition. If it had, the government would, most assuredly, have fallen. Karunanidhi's elder son Azhagiri, who has been critical of the role played by Raja, did tell associates that he had told his father to suspend Raja and in response, Raja had been removed from his post as the party's propaganda secretary. But there was no reaction from the party, not even mild condemnation of the Centre's move. Since then, Azhagiri has been sidelined in the party and his brother M K Stalin been given effective command.
Raja's troubles started when he gave 122 new licences to nine companies in 2008 at a cost of Rs 1,651 crore, which was fixed at 2001 prices. Many new licensees - such as Unitech and Swan Telecom - sold equity in their telecom ventures at a much higher premium than the licence fee (they say they merely transferred it). Swan and Unitech sold 45 per cent and 60 per cent stakes, respectively, to foreign players for $2 billion. This issue was taken up by the Left-aligned political parties and the Bharatiya Janata Party, which alleged that Raja had allowed some companies to make money by coming out with an arbitrary policy for giving licences - and allowed them to make more money by selling scarce spectrum. They said this money actually belonged to the government.
Raja was also attacked by rival operators who said his policy was opaque. For instance, he suddenly imposed a cut-off date for receiving applications for new licences, which was advanced arbitrarily to September 25, 2007 from October 1, 2007 fixed earlier, leaving other potential players out in the cold.
On January 10, 2008, the department of telecommunications (DoT) said applications received till September 25, 2007 would be processed first, and if found eligible, they would be granted a Letter of Intent (LoI). The first-come-first-serve basis for spectrum was suddenly changed - those who got LoI first would get spectrum first.
A press release by DoT was issued on January 10, 2008 at 2.45 p.m. asking the eligible applicants to deposit the bank guarantee within 45 minutes. So, the companies that deposited the bank draft first were first in line to receive LoI and subsequently, licence and spectrum. Questions were raised against these companies knowing of the government's decision in advance.
A report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) said issuance of new licences at a price fixed in 2001 caused a loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the government, based on the 3G auction price. A fight has now broken out about the accuracy of this figure. The report also said many new licensees did not meet eligibility conditions and, therefore, should not have been given a licence. These are the facts of the case, and the law is taking its course. But politics will stop for no one. A general election is a year away. There is hardly any doubt that Raja will be fielded from his constituency, and who knows, the court of the people might even reelect him.
This is what Raja is hoping for. The plan behind going before the JPC is to deliver the most important speech of his career: it is a relatively small gathering where he is unlikely to be interrupted (as opposed to the floor of Parliament where he is certain to be heckled). He will seek a salvation before the judiciary - via the legislature.
The JPC is in the final throes of writing its report, which may be ready within the next four weeks. If Raja can sway the committee, his version of the spectrum allocation (he hopes) will be as authoritative as the court's. The DMK sees no harm in this. Either way, the spectrum scam, which had been pushed to the background, promises to resurface soon, with Raja projecting himself as the wronged messiah.
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