Former Telecom Minister A Raja, a key accused facing trial in the 2G spectrum case, today sought to drag Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's name in a Delhi court by saying that all actions were taken with his "concurrence" and not "unilaterally".
"I did not take any unilateral decision, but acted on the proposals of DoT and discussions with other Cabinet Ministers and the then Solicitor General and after properly apprising the Prime Minister and taking his concurrence. My actions do not amount to abuse of official position or any other offence," Raja told Special CBI Judge O P Saini.
Deposing before the court, Raja said that monitoring of 2G scam probe by the Supreme Court led the CBI to investigate the case in a "predetermined manner" and there was no loss to the exchequer as claimed by the probe agency.
He also told the court that the "flawed" CAG report made the whole issue "sensational" and there was complete ignorance of policy formation and government functioning by the officers investigating the case.
"I was not given an opportunity of hearing by the Supreme Court. The flawed CAG report made the issue sensational without even taking into account the views of the DoT and without properly appreciating Government policy and procedure," he said.
"There was a complete ignorance of policy formation and Government functioning by the investigating officers. The monitoring of the investigation by the Supreme Court led to the CBI investigating the case in a predetermined manner and fabricating oral evidence, since there was no documentary evidence to support the prosecution. Adverse media publicity also contributed to the case against me," Raja said.
He told this to the court while recording his statement as per the provisions of the CrPC. The court concluded recording of Raja's statement during which 1,718 questions were posed to him.
