2G scam: Witness identifies letters exchanged between Raja and Manmohan

A PMO official on Monday identified in a Delhi court the letters exchanged between ex-telecom minister A Raja and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in November-December 2007 on the issue of 2G spectrum allocation.

Deposing in the court as a CBI witness, Pushpendra Kumar Sharma, a section officer in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), identified the letters written by Raja, the key accused in the 2G case, to the Prime Minister on November 2, 2007 and December 26, 2007 respectively.

He told Special CBI Judge O P Saini that he had sent a letter to CBI on March 9, 2011 through which he had sent the correspondence mentioned therein to the agency on its prayer.

"The correspondence sent by me to the CBI includes letter of A Raja to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh dated November 2, 2007 ... and another letter of the same date from A Raja to the Prime Minister...

It also included, he said, "Letter of December 26, 2007 written by A Raja to the Prime Minister along with its annexures."

According to the CBI charge sheet, Raja had written to the Prime Minister on November 2, 2007 "misrepresenting the facts and fraudulently justifying his decision regarding the cut off date of September 25, 2007 on the ground that on this date, the announcement of cutoff date appeared in newspapers."

The Prime Minister had written back to Raja on November 2, 2007 itself and his letter "appropriately flagged the issue of 'processing of large number of applications received for fresh licences against the back drop of inadequate spectrum to cater to overall demand'," the agency had said in its charge sheet.

The agency had alleged that Raja had ignored the advice of the Prime Minister that the availability of 2G spectrum be assessed before the grant of licences.