Raja wrote to PM on 2G policy: Witness

A 2G case witness Wednesday told a special court here that former telecom Minister A. Raja wrote a letter to the Prime Minister on the policy of giving licence without discussing the issue in the department of telecommunications (DoT).

Testifying as a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) witness in the case, former telecom official A.K. Srivastava told Special Judge O.P. Saini that the 'first come, first served' (FCFS) policy was not discussed in the DoT.

"Raja, in a December 26, 2007 letter to the prime minister, had given details about the procedures to be adopted for the distribution of LoIs (letter of intents) to the companies and the FCFS policy," said Srivastava during his cross-examination by former telecom secretary Siddharth Behura.

"It is wrong to suggest that this was the policy decided by DoT and subsequently communicated to the prime minister," Srivastava told Behura's counsel S.P. Minocha.

The CBI, in its charge sheet, alleged that Raja, in conspiracy with other accused, changed the FCFS policy to favour some telecom companies.

According to the government auditor, Raja was biased while distributing second generation (2G) mobile airwaves and operating licences to telecom firms, causing a loss of up to Rs.1.76 lakh crore in revenue to the treasury.

Including Raja, 19 individuals and six companies were accused in two separate cases related to the allotment of 2G spectrum.