Andimuthu Raja - 2G Saga Unfolds

2G SAGA

Unfolds

Andimuthu Raja

2G SAGA

Unfolds

2G SAGA

Unfolds

Andimuthu Raja

HAR-ANAND

PUBLICATIONS PVT LTD

Copyright Andimuthu Raja, 2018

Reprint, 2021

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the prior written permission of the author and the Publisher.

Views and facts presented in the book are those of the author and the publishers are not responsible for the same.

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Dedicated with reverence and gratitude to my parents who ploughed the field of my existence with their mettle and toil; sowed the seeds of my ethos with their simplicity and integrity; nourished the roots of my strength with their conviction and resolve; nurtured the crop of my success with their affection and tears. The harvest of my humble offerings to society is their legacy!

A. RAJA

Preface

Justice in India has often appeared to have been attacked and wounded or abused and exploited by power houses with vested interests. Yet, it has never been completely stifled or rendered impotent. It continues to retain its vitality especially in the context of our national precept of Dharmaan ethical concept which includes the moral code, righteousness, and the whole range of mans duties and responsibilities as Pandit Nehru so aptly described it. My tale is of a village lad, a resurgent Indian belonging to the long repressed lower social strata, who freed himself of traditional shackles but remained bound to time-honoured beliefs and native simplicity.

Many of the great persons who were my ministerial colleagues would readily attest to the fact that my entrance into their cadre brought about a fresh outlook. Such an environment was fostered by my work culture and absolute sense of dedicationwhich to me is like oxygen.

My tenacious battle is the first of its kind in the Indian political landscape. My legal war is a confrontation in the vein of the Biblical David and Goliath but I shall always preserve my faith in Indias great tradition of justice.

I have compiled in this book the happenings around the 2G

spectrum allocation: portraying both the challenges that I faced as well as my defiant resolve to crusade for national progress. The incidents and individuals presented in these events are in clear evidence even now, hence there is nothing for me to veil or misrepresent. Even so, this is neither an autobiography nor a ploy to make quibbling excuses. All the dramatis personae (including me) shall eventually fade from this world and may not even remain in public memory in a few years. However, in order that future administrators, politicians and citizens become cognisant of what not to do in similar situations, I think this endeavour to document history

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is essential. This book is an attempt to elucidate in the backdrop of the 2G case, how when relevant constitutional and statutory bodies lose their equitability and objectivity in the discharge of their dutieseither due to self-interest or prejudicial external pressures

flagrant injustice, political failing and an overall repression of national interest ensues. There is no tangible loss to the nation associated with the loss of an individual; conversely, should the whole nations good be sacrificed at the altar of an individuals selfinterest?

The Supreme Court is monitoring this case. I never asked for any clemency from the courts in the criminal case that was filed against me, but I am disturbed by the manner of implementation of the Rule of Law. Benches and galleries may vary but the Law must remain steadfast. Gandhi and Tilak embarked on agitations for the same cause but their manner of facing the law differed. When a case of sedition was slapped against Tilak he argued in court that he was not guilty; what he had written and spoken was not seditious as per the prevailing Rule of Law. Although he was convicted by the court of men, it is certain to the nationthe general populacethat his actions were justified and that he was innocent in the court of Man.

Gandhis defence was different. He accepted that he had knowingly violated the rule of law because it was wrongful and unjust. His actions were however morally right and justified according to natural law. In the 2G case, neither the rule of law nor natural law prevailedwith the exception of the provision of an actual court trial.

The media hype deluded the masses into believing that there was moral delinquency while the arbitrating institutions diluted legal diligence and objective, civilized jurisprudence by voicing capricious personal opinions.

I have tried to establish how right from the time of issuance of 2G

licenses, arrows of suspicion and false propaganda were fired at me, with the statutory and constitutional bodies concerned setting off from a position of misinformation and remaining steeped in incomprehension. This book shall elaborate with the evidence of events and documents, how the former CAG (Comptroller and

PREFACE

Auditor General of India) Vinod Rai while appearing well-intentioned, has executed the functions of his office with ulterior motives and lack of objectivity. This is neither a recent observation nor just my personal viewpoint. Upon receiving CAGs Draft Report, a response report was sent on 27 July 2010 by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). This elaborate 108-page response was compiled by many of the officers of DoT who were also included as witnesses in the 2G case. On page 100, it has been emphatically stated, Therefore, the conclusion of the Audit regarding issuance of licenses in 2008 at 2001 prices, issuance of licenses on FCFS policy to the applicants who applied till 25 September 2007, implementation of dual technology and allotment of spectrum thereof is misconstrued and based on little knowledge of the policies of the Government and without going into detail and understanding the various recommendations of TRAI and the entire Telecom scenario in the country. Even so the CAG

deliberately ignored these clarifications. Rais report is essentially a mixture of inappropriate legal interpretations, incongruous comparisons and flippant allegations, ignoring the Governments standpoint and the concomitant laws. The few who comprehended this reality and maintained their constancy can unfortunately be counted on ones fingers. Everybodyshockingly even the Supreme Court benchbecame so enthralled by the notion of a hypothesized presumptive loss figure as indicative of an actual scam of huge proportion that emotion trumped over logic andmore significantlythe legal process. Vinod Rai also had the temerity to dub himself the Nations Conscience Keeper on the cover of his book titled Not just an Accountant in which he dedicated a few chapters on the 2G Spectrum allocation. He in his role as CAG was the sutradhaar

who created the devious apparition which the media and political opposition followed. It is unfortunate that even the highest court of the country became a prey to this. I shall debunk Mr. Rais allegations in the chapters that follow and demonstrate that issues which were paraded as pearls gleaned from the ocean of CAGs report were not even so many specks of sand. The possibility of a conspiracy-nexus

cannot be ruled out in this travesty of responsible and honourable jurisprudence. I will show that Rais words and actions are:

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