JOIN USThe strongest support for the Prime Minister came from AICC General Secretary Rahul Gandhi and HRD Minister Kapil Sibal, who replaced Raja as telecom minister.
“I don’t think the Prime Minister is in an embarrassing position,” said Rahul.
Kapil Sibal too defended Singh, accusing Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy of political motives for filing a petition against the Prime Minister’s Office in the Supreme Court. “How can Swamy himself investigate the case? There are due procedure and agencies for this. Does he think himself as an investigative agency? The Prime Minister is such a person against whom we cannot even point a finger,” said Sibal, adding, “Swamy’s move is to gain political mileage.”
The apex court has sought an explanation by Saturday why the country’s top office remained silent for 16 months on Swamy’s plea seeking sanctions to initiate proceedings against former telecom minister A Raja in connection with the alleged 2G spectrum scam.
The government is likely to file an affidavit in Parliament and the Supreme Court explaining the PM’s alleged “inaction and silence”.
Attorney General G E Vahanvati will appear for the PMO before the apex court’s bench of Justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly. Sources said the government would question the locus standi of Swamy while defending the PMO in the court.
“If an individual, who believes he is an investigating agency, does not take recourse to law and expects on the basis of newspaper reports for the PM to respond and sanction proceedings against a minister, it will be a sad day for the country,” said Sibal.