Govt may name prosecutor to represent CBI in 2G case today

The probe agency has already clarified that it was the prerogative of the government to appoint a counsel and that there was no difference of opinion on the proposed appointment of senior advocate U U Lalit as special public prosecutor in the 2G spectrum case.

The CBI had told the Supreme Court that it could not find a lawyer to represent it in the spectrum allocation case, following which the apex court had suggested Lalit's name.

Most of the senior expert lawyers have either received briefings by telecom firms or have been hired by them.

Later, the Union Government objected to Lalit's name in the Supreme Court on technical grounds saying that he did not have the required experience.

Senior CBI officials said the agency's role is only to carry out a probe in the case and it is the Government's domain to appoint the prosecutor.

"We have no problem with anybody (lawyer) proposed by the government for the case," the CBI official said.

The CBI had started probing the spectrum allocation scam in 2009.

On April 2, the agency filed its first chargesheet against 12 accused including former Telecom Minister A Raja alleging that he had manipulated the procedure for allocation of spectrum with the aim of favouring companies like Swan Telecom and the Unitech Group.

The agency will file a supplementary chargesheet in the case by April 25.