Former Telecom Minister and a prime accused in the 2G spectrum allocation scam A Raja has said he is ready to serve a life-term in prison if a single rupee or dollar was found in any offshore account in his name.
Countering the allegations against him in an interview to a news channel late on Saturday, he said he did not keep Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the dark about the spectrum allocation and everything was done in accordance with the National Telecom Policy and Cabinet guidelines.
“The CAG failed to differentiate between 2G and 3G. 2G is meant for voice and 3G is meant for data transfer. You can’t compare PDS rice with Basmati rice. The rates will definitely be different,” Raja was quoted as saying in a press release issued by the news channel.
What the media portrayed as the “biggest corruption” was largely based on assumptions and not on the basis of records, said the DMK leader, who is contesting Lok Sabha elections from the Niligiris in Tamil Nadu.
Referring to an English daily, Raja said it published a front page story quoting CBI sources, saying he was keeping Rs 3000 crore abroad. The news item came nine days after he was arrested in connection with the case on February 2, 2011.
“The same day I went to the judge, showed him the newspaper report and said, I want to challenge Income Tax, ED and CBI if they find one rupee or a dollar in my name, I will not contest the case and I will live my entire life in jail,” he said. “In 2013, the CBI told the court that they raided me, my relatives and my friends, and they did not find any disproportionate money,” Raja added.
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