PM files 11-page affidavit; says all of Swamy's letters answered

Forced into a corner by the Supreme Court, the prime minister today filed an affidavit giving details of the letters his office had received from former law minister Subramanian Swamy seeking sanction to prosecute erstwhile telecom minister A Raja, who has been accused of selling 2G spectrum at throwaway prices to select companies.

The 11-page affidavit filed by  K Vidyawati, director in the prime minister's office (PMO) says Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his office answered and took action on several letters by Swamy alleging irregularities in allocation of 2G spectrum.

The affidavit says there was no inaction on the part of the PMO on Swamy's letters.

Various aspects of the 2G spectrum allocations in January 2008 are being looked into by respective agencies in their domains of interest, the PMO said in the affidavit.
 
The Supreme Court had put the pressure on Minister Singh last Thursday by asking him to present an affidavit explaining his "alleged inaction and silence for 11 long months" on Swamy's application for Raja's prosecution (See: Spectrum case: SC wants affidavit explaining PM's silence).

Under Indian law, a union minister cannot be prosecuted without the prime minister's sanction. The court said Singh had failed to reply to a request to approve the prosecution of A Raja.

Earlier today, Singh said at a function organised by the Hindustan Times that his government would punish wrongdoers in the spectrum case.