Supreme Court to examine Manmohan Singh affidavit today

The Supreme Court will examine on Tuesday the affidavit filed on behalf of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the 2G spectrum scam.

The government on behalf of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court on the 2G Spectrum scam on Saturday, arguing that there was no inaction on the PM’s part regarding sanctioning prosecution of former Telecom minister A Raja.

Refuting charges of delay in sanction of prosecution of Raja, the Prime Minister?s Office (PMO) in an 11-page affidavit claimed that action was duly taken on every letter received from former MP and Janata Dal leader Subramanium Swamy seeking permission to act against Raja.

The affidavit was filed through Director (PMO) V Vidyawati wherein the prime minister said: ?I am making this affidavit only for the purpose of showing how the various letters received from the petitioner have been duly considered.?

The affidavit states that the prime minister had pursued several letters received from Swamy between November 29, 2008, to October 5, 2010, on the 2G Spectrum issue as per the advice of the Law ministry.

The Prime Minister is being represented by India’s top legal officer, the Attorney General, in the Supreme Court after the PM was asked to reply why he did not act on a plea to prosecute A Raja.

Attorney General of India GE Vahanvati replaced Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium to argue for the Prime Minister who faced an unprecedented rebuke by the Supreme Court on the 2G scam which also demanded an affidavit.

The court was responding to the allegations of no response from the PMO to Subramanium Swamy’s repeated letters seeking sanction to prosecute former Telecom minister A Raja in the scam which cost the state exchequer Rs 1.76 lakh crore (nearly $40 billion).