Citing the principle of collective responsibility,former telecom secretary Siddhartha Behura on Wednesday told a special CBI court that not only officials of telecom ministry but the then finance secretary D Subbarao,the then finance minister P Chidambaram and the Centre were also to be blamed for the non-revision of 2G licence fee. He pleaded innocence claiming that he played no role in the 2G scam as he joined on January 1,2008,much after all decisions related to issuance of licence,pricing and spectrum allocation were taken. Telecom Ministry was not taking a line insulated from the scrutiny of the government. The ministry had been constantly interacting with the Prime Minister. At no point of time,Cabinet meeting was constituted over the issue. If there was any discrepancy,Raja (the then telecom minister) either should have been censured or asked to resign. Telecom policy was not the policy of a minister but the government of India. The government cannot wash its hands of after filing the chargesheet, said Behuras counsel Aman Lekhi. Lekhi said Subbarao wrote a letter to the then DoT secretary D S Mathur on November 22,2007 raising concerns about the pricing policy of licences. Mathur wrote back on November 27 saying that since TRAI in its August 2007 recommendations had not suggested any changes,no change was made in the licence fee. Noting that Raja subsequently approved the entry fee (Rs 1,659 crore) in a December 4 note that was marked to Mathur and the then Member Finance Manju Madhavan,the counsel said: Subbarao had an opportunity to raise an objection to the pricing,instead he added a note the pricing issue is finalised. If Subbarao approved the policy then by implication the Finance Ministry and the then finance minister (P Chidambaram) also approved it. Going by the same principle,if I have been made an accused then Subbarao should also be made an accused, he added. Behura said Madhavan should also be considered a part of the conspiracy as she did not object to the December 4 note. Madhavan objected to the entry fee (of licences) by a note dated November 30,2007. However,she chose to remain silent about the December 4 note. Questioning the CBI investigation,he asked: What is the basis for arbitrarily selecting the accused and the witnesses. Those responsible for taking the decision are made witnesses and those not involved are accused. Arguing that the government is supreme in deciding its policies,he said: The pricing policy might not have aimed for revenue maximisation but that does not make the policy criminal. The government policy was focused on spreading competition,improving services and increasing tele-density. The policy may be wrong but it does not make it criminal. Behuras arguments that came a day after Raja sought to shift blame to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chidamabaram will continue on Thursday. Subbarao,Madhavan and Mathur are prosecution witnesses in the 2G case. Behura sought them to be made accused. Meanwhile,I-T officials who arrived from Mumbai here on Wednesday,interrogated Raja and Shahid Balwa inside Tihar jail.
