2G scam: CBI questions ex-TRAI chief; Raja to appear at next date

Chennai/ New Delhi : Rejecting reports that he was evading the CBI, former Telecom minister A Raja on Monday said he will appear for questioning at the agency?s headquarters in the national capital on the next summon date even as the CBI grilled former chairman of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Pradip Baijal.

Notices were also sent to Raja and corporate lobbyist Niira Radia to appear before it for questioning in connection with alleged 2G spectrum allocation scam.

Talking to reporters at Chennai after a medical check-up at the Apollo Hospital, Raja said he was neither hiding nor evading the CBI.

He said he has informed the CBI that he could not be present for Monday?s questioning in New Delhi and would be there at the next date.

?The CBI wants to question me, it is not unusual. It is a matter of procedural matter?, Raja said.

?I am a lawyer and I will abide by the law. Getting summons is a usual process. CBI is the prime investigating agency and it knows what kind of cooperation I have been extending. I will continue to do so,? he added.

The former Union minister also dismissed reports that he would seek anticipatory bail.

?I am not an accused and I am not in hiding and will not seek anticipatory bail,? Raja said.

Meanwhile in New Delhi, CBI sleuths questioned Baijal for about three and a half hours at the agency’s headquarters.

Refusing to comment before waiting reporters after emerging from the CBI office, Baijal said, ?I have given my clarifications (to CBI).?

Both the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate have to submit a status report to the Supreme Court in February, after the apex court said last week that it would monitor all 2G probes.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) found the allocation of spectrum in 2008 having caused a loss of Rs.1.76 lakh crore to the government exchequer as companies, not eligible for 2G allocation, were given licences at undervalued prices.

Raja’s residences in Delhi and Tamil Nadu were raided along with those of former bureaucrats who worked closely with him.

Raja had to resign as the Telecom minister last month in the wake of the controversy.