Taking serious note of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh?s letter to former telecom minister A Raja recommending auction of 2G spectrum, the Supreme Court on Thursday said the scam could have been prevented if action was taken on it.
In his letter to Raja on November 2, 2007, the PM had raised concerns over the first-come-first-served policy and had recommended auction of 2G spectrum.
A bench comprising justices GS Singhvi and HL Dattu sought to know why no action was taken on the PM’s letter to Raja, who ignored the recommendation and chose to allot spectrum on a first-come-first-served basis instead of auctioning it.
The court said that if action had been taken on the PM’s letter, the scam could have been prevented. The gravity of the crime could have been minimised, it added.
The Bench said even when the then telecom minister did not agree with the PM for auctioning the ?scarce? spectrum and went ahead with issuing Letters of Intent (LoIs), no timely action was taken to prevent the situation which has arisen today and the matter reached the courts.
The bench was hearing the bail pleas of jailed managing director of Unitech Sanjay Chandra and Swan Telecom?s Director Vinod Goenka in the case.
?You are expressing apprehension that the accused may tamper with the evidence and affect the CBI case if granted bail. The chargesheet contains a date, November 2, 2007, which is a crucial date. Everybody knows about that date and you (CBI) also know.?
?The head of the government writes a letter that spectrum is a scarce commodity and it should be auctioned. The minister (then telecom minister A Raja) did not agree. The finance department also objected. Do you think the government was not aware of what was going on,? the bench said while Raval was opposing the bail pleas of the accused.
However, Additional Solicitor General Haren Rawal said: ?The charges of criminality would have still remained because of the decision taken by the then telecom minister.?