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A court here has allowed former telecom minister A. Raja, facing trial in the 2G spectrum allocation case, to examine himself as witness.
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Judge O.P. Saini last week allowed Raja's application to examine the witnesses for defending himself in the case.
"The accused (Raja) wishes to examine himself as a witness in his own defence and the application has been filed under his own signature. Not opposed. Allowed. The accused is at liberty to examine himself as a witness in his own defence," the judge said.
The court said: "Accused A. Raja shall ensure that either he himself is ready for his examination as a witness, as prayed by him, or some other witness is present on his behalf July 1."
Raja submitted his list of witnesses before the CBI Special Judge last week.
The list includes the name of S.E. Rajan, former personal assistant to the ministry of communication and information technology, and officials from the Lok Sabha Secretariat, department of telecom and the law and justice ministry.
According to the government auditor, Raja was biased while distributing 2G mobile airwaves and operating licences to telecom firms, causing a notional loss of up to Rs.1.76 lakh crore in revenue to the treasury.
All the accused, including Raja, are out on bail.
