A Raja goes to Tihar for a fortnight

NEW DELHI: After spending 15 days in CBI custody, former telecom minister A Raja will be cooling his heels in Tihar jail over the next fortnight.

During the period, Raja was extensively questioned on his role in the 2G spectrum allocation scam and he came face-to-face with ADAG Chairman Anil Ambani and DB Realty co-promoter Shahid Usman Balwa on Wednesday evening.

Raja was arrested by CBI on February 2. With the Indian penal laws barring custodial stay with the police for more than 15 days, he was remanded to judicial custody by a Patiala House Court on Thursday.

During his stay in CBI custody, the former telecom minister was questioned on various aspects of the scam, including the DB Realty-Kalaignar TV and S Tel-Kalaignar TV money trails, and the manner in which favours were doled out to various telecom players.

CBI sources said that Raja remained evasive on most counts. On issues concerning him and the DMK political leadership, he was particularly reticent, but on other issues he opened up comfortably.

CBI, while moving its application for seeking Raja's judicial remand, told the court on Thursday that he was not co-operating with the investigators and so it needed more time to question him.

On Wednesday evening, CBI had questioned Raja, Ambani and Balwa together for almost an hour. Ambani was reportedly questioned in connection with his company Reliance Communications emerging as a major beneficiary of the largesse showered by the former telecom minister. He was also asked about Reliance Communication's equity in Swan Telecom. CBI also wanted to check if Reliance had conformed with all the eligibility norms or if they were favoured by Raja. Balwa, the promoter of Swan Telecom, had been arrested by CBI last week and is also being questioned.

While sending Raja to judicial custody for a fortnight, special CBI judge OP Saini asked the Tihar jail superintendent to go by the jail manual in according facilities to the former telecom minister.

Raja's counsel Ramesh Gupta contended that his client was suffering from stomach ailment and hence should be allowed to have medicines prescribed by Apollo Hospital. He also made out a plea for allowing Raja to partake of home-cooked food.

The court, after listening to Gupta's submission, directed the jail superintendent to go by the jail manual in acceding to his requests.