Behura drags RBI governor in 2G case

Former telecom secretary Siddharth Behura, who is serving a jail term along with former telecom minister A Raja, today dragged RBI governor D Subbarao in the 2G case.

Subbarao, who was finance secretary at that time, did not revise the entry fee of Rs1,659 crore for 2G spectrum licence, he said, adding that being the telecom secretary, he himself had no role to play except implementing the government's policy.

"Initially Subbarao recorded his objection (to non-revision of entry fee) but later he said that the issue of pricing of spectrum stood decided," Behura told the court.

Arguing on the same lines of former telecom minister A Raja, Behura told the special CBI judge OP Saini that if Subbarao was not accused, he (Behura) too should not have been put on trial.

"Subbarao finalised the decision taken at the meeting of 4 December 2007 that the policy stood approved and the entry fee (which was fixed in 2001 during the NDA regime) need not be revised," Behura's counsel Aman Lekhi told the court.

"Neither Subbarao nor D S Mathur (former telecom secretary nor any other person from any ministry are before this court as accused," Behura said, adding that he should at best have been made a witness and not an accused in the case as he had no role in finalisation of any "covert act."