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3. Dr. Subramanian Swamy, the petitioner, herein, while he was being examined under Section 200, Code of Criminal Procedure in CC No. 01(A)/11 had deposed on 17.12.2011 as well as on 07.01.2012 that Shri A Raja, the first accused, could not have alone committed the offences alleged against him, but for the active connivance of Shri P. Chidambaram, the then Finance Minister. So far as the various charges were concerned, it was alleged that both Shri A. Raja and Shri P. Chidambaram were jointly and severely responsible. Reference was also made to documents including Ext. CW 1/1 to CW 1/28 with an emphasis that all those acts were done by the accused – Shri A Raja in connivance, collusion and consent of Shri P. Chidambaram and hence Shri P. Chidambaram was also guilty of commission of the offences under the P.C. Act for which Shri A. Raja was already facing trial. Further, it was also pointed out that Shri P. Chidambaram was also guilty of breach of trust on the question of national security for not disclosing that Etisalat and Telenor were black-listed by the Home Ministry. Further, it was pointed out that there was enough incriminating materials on record for carrying out the investigation against Shri P. Chidambaram and for making him an accused in the case. Further, it was also alleged that Shri P. Chidambaram had played a vital role in the subversion of the process of issuance of Letter of Intent (for short ‘LOI’), Unified Access Service (for short ‘UAS’) Licences and allocation of spectrum in the year 2007-08. Further, it was also alleged that Shri P. Chidambaram was also complicit in fixing the price of the spectrum licence at 2001 level and permitting two companies, which received the licence that is Swan Tele Communication (P) Ltd. (for short ‘Swan’) and Unitech (T.N.) Ltd. (for short ‘Unitech’) and to dilute their shares even before roll-out of their services.

5. Dr. Swamy appeared in person and elaborately referred to Annexure P- 1 Final Report dated 03.04.2011 submitted by CBI before the Special Judge especially Para E, charge dealing with “Cheating the Government Exchequer by Non- Revision of Entry Fee”. Reference was also made to the summary of his arguments raised before the Special Judge for carrying out investigation against Shri P. Chidambaram and to array him as an accused in the pending criminal case. Reference was also made to the meetings that Shri P. Chidambaram had with Shri A. Raja on 30.01.2008, 29.05.2008, 12.06.2008 and later with the Prime Minister on 04.07.2008 and submitted that in those meetings both of them conspired together for a common object and purpose in fixing the pricing of spectrum at the year 2001 level and permitting distribution equally by two companies Swan and Unitech. Further, it was also pointed out that Shri P. Chidambaram was fully aware, at least, on 09.01.2008 as to what Shri A Raja was planning to do on 10.01.2008. Referring to several documents placed on record, it was pointed out that in fact Shri P. Chidambaram did not pay heed to the opinions expressed by the officials of his own Ministry and abeted to commit various illegal acts.

17. Learned counsel pointed out all those facts which would clearly indicate that Shri P. Chidambaram the then Finance Minister was also equally responsible. Non-revision of spectrum price though specifically recommended by the GoMs in the year 2003 would indicate, according to the counsel, that Shri P. Chidambaram colluded up with Shri A Raja in non- auctioning of the spectrum and went on for allotment of first come first served basis at 2001 rates. Further, it was also pointed out that Shri P. Chidambaram had not revised his position from giving away 4.4 MHz of spectrum at 2001 prices and giving away 6.2 MHz of spectrum at 2001, thus causing huge loss to the exchequer. Further, he was also instrumental along with Shri A. Raja for allowing companies like Swan and Unitech to sell off their shares without charging any Government’s share of its premium. Counsel therefore prayed for a direction of CBI to conduct a thorough investigation / further investigation into the role of Shri P. Chidambaram in 2G spectrum scam under the close scrutiny of this court.

a) The ways in which the existing licensees in GSM and CDMA would be eligible to participate in the auction vis-a-vis the new entrants; and

(b) The advantages and disadvantages of the method itself. A detailed table is placed at Annexure V.”

40. Shri P. Chidambaram, following the views expressed by the Ministry of Finance on 9.1.2008, on his instructions, also sent a note to the Prime Minister on 15.1.2008 on spectrum charges. Noticeably, this letter was sent at a time when Finance Secretary’s view was rejected by Shri A. Raja and the officers of the DoT and that Shri A. Raja’s views were not overturned even by the Prime Minister’s Office. Therefore, the allegation that the attempt of Shri P. Chidambaram was to hide the illegalities in the award of licences is unfounded. On the other hand, Shri P. Chidambaram was advocating the fact that the most important method of allocating the spectrum would be through auction. Shri P. Chidambaram also made a reference in the note of the recommendations made in the year 2003 by TRAI and GoMs and stated that the recommendations note did not deal with the need, if any, to revise entry fee or the rate of revenue share, but dealt with the spectrum charges for 2G spectrum. Para 10 of the note sent by Shri P. Chidambaram reads as follows: