Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister P Chidambaram should quit after the Supreme Court cancelled all 122 2G licences, former law minister and Team Anna core committee member Shanti Bhushan said in Mumbai on Monday.
“The Supreme Court judgement quashing the grant of all 122 2G licences has recorded the finding that this grant at 2001 prices has caused a huge loss quantified by the CAG up to Rs1,76,000 crore is enough ground for the nation to ask for the resignation of not only Chidambaram but also the prime minister,” Bhushan said in a statement. Chidambaram was the finance minister in 2008 when the licences were given.
“It is clear that the prime minister came to know of the facts and could have prevented the grant of licences at 2001 prices. He could have dropped Raja from the government. His defence that the constraints of coalition politics did not permit him to intervene is no defence at all. This only implies that if he had intervened, his government might have fallen,” he added.
Bhushan said the special CBI judge held that the then finance minister’s (Chidambaram) act of granting permission to licensees to transfer their equity in favour of other companies at a very high price, even if contrary to the terms of the licence, did not per se make him a party to a criminal conspiracy with Raja.
“The special judge has further pointed out that while there was clear evidence against Raja and others facing trial about their involvement in the criminal conspiracy, similar evidence was lacking against Chidambaram,” Bhushan said.
“In the absence of any other evidence so far, the special judge may be right in his order rejecting a plea for making Chidambaram a co-accused,” he added.
Bhushan said that in a case of conspiracy, actionable evidence emerges only after an investigation by an empowered and independent investigation agency.
“It may be noted here that the CBI cannot independently investigate against Chidambaram as the home ministry controls the transfers, postings, promotions, suspensions and disciplinary proceedings of the IPS cadre members of the CBI,” he pointed out.
“If the principle was applied that ‘no investigation could be done unless the available facts already showed that a person was a party to a criminal conspiracy’, no terrorist would ever be investigated,” he added.
Bhushan, however, said that a minister's or the prime minister’s resignation is called for not only when it is shown that they have committed a criminal offence but also when their acts of either omission or commission lead to a huge loss to the nation.
