February
12, 20:30 hrs IST
New Delhi: The 2G scam has acquired yet another twist as A K
Singh, the CBI prosecutor and Sanjay Chandra, the Managing Director of the
Unitech, a major telecom company, were taped while having conversation recorded
for 17 minutes over the prosecution strategy in the case. The audio tape, a result
of the sting operation, was anonymously sent to the CBI and was found recorded
in September 2012 in which the senior public prosecutor allegedly speaks to
Chandra on how to strengthen the defence and weaken the CBI’s stand on the scam.
Singh is also heard discussing about how he has been “muddling up the matters”
for Chandra and that he has been misleading the Central Bureau of Investigation
(CBI) Director in order to help him. Singh supposedly asks Chandra what would
be the value of a lawyer like him in the corporate sector and Chandra replies
by mentioning a monthly salary of Rs. 3-4 lakh a month, excluding the daily
appearance fee which according to him doubled in the wake of 2G scam. The tape
was first released by CNN IBN on screen on Monday February 11th,
much to the worry of the CBI Director.
The CBI reacted to the tape by launching a Preliminary Enquiry and
removing the accused prosecutor from the case. The CBI also informed the
Supreme Court, Central Vigilance Commission and the government about this
development immediately after the action taken. A K Singh, who had been
assisting Special Public Prosecutor U U Lalit, has been replaced by K K Goyal for
enquiry purposes. Having launched the PE on February 6th, both Singh
and Chandra were interrogated for several hours by the CBI on Monday February
11th. Voice samples were taken to match with the voices on the tape.
The audio tape was also sent to the forensics for further investigation as
source of the tape is unknown.
However, despite the CBI Director Ranjit Sinha saying on Monday
that the voices on the tape prima facie appear to be that of Chandra and Singh,
Unitech has denied Chandra’s connection with the tape. "Sanjay Chandra wishes to make it
absolutely clear that he has never met the prosecutor in the 2G case outside of
court or had any phone conversation with him. He denies the suggestion that his
voice is on any alleged recording. It appears a fabricated voice recording has
been sent anonymously to the CBI. Any suggestion that Sanjay Chandra is linked
with this recording is nothing but an attempt to malign him and prejudice his
defence in the 2G case… It is regrettable that CNN IBN did not deem it
appropriate to wait for a determination by the CBI and forensic experts
regarding the genesis and authenticity of the alleged voice recording before
airing the same." Unitech said in a statement.
CBI has accused Chandra and Unitech of several criminal acts in
the 2G scam which includes cheating, forgery, and collusion with former telecom
minister A Raja and other Department of Telecommunication officials as part of
the alleged conspiracy where they and several other corporate houses got 2G
spectrum way below the going market rate. The CBI has alleged that Chandra and
Unitech forged documents to qualify for the spectrum.
A K Singh is a 20-year veteran of the CBI and has handled the
Shashinath Jha murder case which implicated former Union Minister Shibu Soren.
Singh was also a junior lawyer attached to the Jain Hawala case. According to
sources, his record so far has been clean.
The CBI director in an effort to contain the damage told the media
that Singh's actions were an aberration and the agency had taken steps to stem
any adverse effect on the case in court. The CBI in an official statement
argued: “It has come to the notice of the CBI that a Public Prosecutor was
allegedly in touch with, and was discussing certain points regarding
prosecution strategy with an accused in the 2G Spectrum allocation case, which
is currently under trial before the court of Special CBI Judge at Patiala House
Courts. These allegations are being probed… (CBI) maintains strict vigilance
over its investigation teams and prosecution officers and no instance of
professional misconduct is taken lightly.”
The Joint Parliament Committee quizzed the CBI Chief on the
February 12th on the alleged unauthorised contact of the agency’s
prosecutor and the accused in the 2G scam and questions on the removal of Singh
were first put to him by opposition members in the committee who include senior
opposition leaders such as Yashwant Singha and Gurudas Dasgupta. The CBI Chief Ranjit Sinha is learnt to have
told the JPC that the veracity of the tape is yet to be confirmed. The
possibility of postponing the drafting of the JPC report on 2G scam arose with
key UPA ally DMK insisting on calling former Telecom Minister A Raja and Swan
Telecom's Shahid Balwa as a witnesses.
Previous week the Chairman of the JPC, PC Chacko had said that
after hearing the CBI and the Department of Telecommunication in the meeting,
the panel would conclude gathering evidences from witnesses and start writing
the draft report so that it could be tabled in Parliament by March 31 during
the recess of the Budget Session.
By the latest reports it has been learnt that Chacko has rejected
the need to call CBI public prosecutor A K Singh and Unitech MD Sanjay Chandra
for investigation by the JPC. He said in this regard, "No need to call the
persons who allegedly colluded. We have called the concerned persons. We cannot
call everyone. The JPC has questioned the secretaries of the concerned
ministries. We had questioned the CBI director today."
Chacko said that according to the CBI chief, the reports regarding
allegations of collusion between AK Singh and Sanjay Chandra are correct, and
the recording has been sent for forensic examination.
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