Former union telecom minister and DMK leader A Raja has written a letter to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after the special CBI special court acquitted him along with all the other accused in the 2G spectrum case saying that he remained loyal land faithful unlike some senior cabinet colleagues.
Raja’s letter and Manmohan Singh’s reply to it has now surfaced.
In his letter dated December 26, 2017, Raja said, “You will recall that I assured you several times that I had done nothing wrong but rather acted in national interest and that I would prove this. I also understand the compulsions that prevented you from openly supporting me. Today I stand vindicated.”
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In what could be seen as targeting some senior colleagues in the previous UPA government, Raja said, “I hope you will acknowledge that I remained loyal and faithful to you- unlike some senior cabinet colleagues- and ensured that you did not suffer personal embarrassment in the trial proceedings.”
“Now that the truth about 2G is out in the open, you too could come forward in my support, which you could not earlier,” wrote Raja, concluding his letter.
Replying to Raja in a letter dated January 2, Manmohan Singh said, “I am very happy that you stand vindicated in the 2G case.
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Earlier, according to a report by the Economic Times, Raja had accused Manmohan Singh of being “wrong” and “unjust” in keeping quiet in the 2G scam case. According to the report, Raja, in his book, ‘In My Defense’, had said that Singh had "lost the mental strength to stand straight against motivated accusations and noisy media" saying that the Ex-PM was "misled" by his colleagues, some working in his own office.
The scam relates to the granting of 2G spectrum licence allocations in 2007-08 that caused, according to a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, a loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore.
While acquitting all the accused in the case on Decmber 21 last year, the Special CBI Judge OP Saini had said that Raja "cannot be faulted" for alleged misrepresentation of facts before then PM Singh as the complete facts were not placed before him by PM’s own office. The court had held that it was not A Raja, but some senior officials in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) had suppressed the most relevant and controversial part of A Raja’s letter on spectrum allocation from Manmohan Singh.
Raja was forced to resign from the Manmohan Singh cabinet in November 2010 despite having strong support from his own party, DMK and its patriarch, Karunanidhi.
