New Delhi, Nov 19 (IANS): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Saturday said the CBI's registering a case in the allocation of additional spectrum to private telecom firms during the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government was an effort to divert attention in order to save Home Minister P. Chidambaram.
"The new case registered by CBI is nothing but an effort to save Chidambaram. We have given specific application to inquire into the role of Chidambaram but even after 60 days, they (government) have neither replied nor started investigation," said BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar.
He said the prime minister himself accepted that only after Chidambaram - as finance minister in 2008 - give his nod did then communications minister A. Raja clear the allocation of spectrum. "This is a case of complicity and there is an equal responsibility of Chidambaram along with Raja in the spectrum allocation scam."
"But to save him now CBI is diverting attention, and that is why they have raked up a policy matter which was implemented in a transparent manner. This is an example of political abuse of the CBI by the Congress. That is why we want CBI to be independent. But Congress can never save Chidambaram," Javadekar said.
The CBI Friday registered a case in the allocation of additional spectrum to private telecom firms when the late Pramod Mahajan was telecommunications minister in the NDA government between 2001-03.
CBI officials Saturday raided the Airtel office in Gurgaon and Vodafone offices in Mumbai and Delhi, and the residences of former telecom secretary Shyamal Ghosh and former deputy director general in the telecom ministry J.R. Gupta.
Earlier, the investigating agency had conducted a preliminary inquiry regarding the allocation of additional spectrum from 2001 to 2007.