ED to quiz Raja's key aides

Evidence to be gathered about allocation process

Sources said the ED, which has registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, was likely to summon certain officials, including R K Chandolia and A K Srivastava, who had worked with Raja.

Chandolia was Raja’s personal secretary at the time of the controversial spectrum allocation in 2008.  He was sent back to his parent department–Indian Economic Services–within days of new Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal taking charge.

The sources said the two officials were likely to be questioned about the allocation process, the alleged role played by corporate lobbyist Nira Radia and their income tax returns and investments.

Statement

The directorate has already questioned Radia in connection with the alleged irregularities  in the allocation of licences to telecom companies under 2G spectrum.
ED officials grilled Radia for several hours, during which she gave an over 20-page statement.

The directorate has already been asked by the Finance Ministry to probe into the 2G spectrum issue from the angle of  violation of foreign exchange regulations. Raja—a senior DMK leader– was forced to resign earlier this month after the Comptroller and Auditor General severely indicted him for his role in the 2G spectrum allocation.

The ED is preparing questions to be put to the suspected officials of the Telecom Ministry regarding the allocation process of licences  including the controversial first-come-first-serve basis, sources said. Besides, questioning would be based on information collected by other investigating agencies like the CBI and the I-T department ever since the controversies over the 2G scam broke out in 2008.

The statement given by Radia during her interrogation by the ED would also provide some inputs to the ED sleuths for questioning Chandolia. The sources said the officials would be asked to submit all details about their income, their annual I-T returns for the last few years and details about their investments both in movable and immovable assets besides their foreign travel.

The ED which has already issued summons to certain firms, which bagged spectrum in 2008, are currently sifting through several thousand pages of documents submitted by them during the first round of questionong.