2G case: BJP demands Chidambaram's resignation

Lucknow/New Delhi, Feb 2 (ANI): Welcoming the Supreme Court's decision on directing a trial court to decide on Union Home Minister P Chidambaram's role in the 2G spectrum scam, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday demanded his resignation over the issue.

"The Prime Minister had said Chidambaram is his valued colleague and what he did is right. That decision of the government to allot 2G licences has been declared illegal and unconstitutional by the highest court of the country...It was not the decision of one person, but the decision of the government," BJP leader Arun Jaitley told media hours after the apex court had quashed 122 spectrum licences granted after January 2008, and asked a trial court to decide whether Chidambaram needs to be probed for his role in the spectrum case.

"The decision has smashed the Prime Minister's theory that past practices were followed...The SC decision also smashes the theory of Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal that there was 'zero loss' in 2G allocation," Jaitley added.

BJP spokesperson Ravishankar Prasad also praised the apex court's verdict, saying that despite a plunge in the share prices of telecom companies involved in the scam, it highlighted the nation's integrity.

"The Supreme Court has found massive irregularities in these allocations and has quashed it. Some people are talking about the share prices of these companies and have said that their share prices are falling. But what is important today, is that the index of India's integrity has gone very high," said Prasad.

Prasad further mocked Congress President Sonia Gandhi for remaining tight-lipped over the grant of licences.

"The BJP would like to ask Sonia Gandhi, will she now speak? She is the biggest leader of this government. Will she now speak? When the decision making process of her own government stands deeply shattered," said Prasad.

The apex court said there was no need for a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to monitor the 2G scam probe.

The apex court verdict was in response to Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy's petition seeking a CBI probe into Chidambaram's alleged role in the spectrum scam, and on two pleas filed by noted lawyer Prashant Bhushan seeking cancellation of 2G licences and the setting up of a SIT to monitor probe the scam.

Swamy had on January 7 submitted documents seeking prosecution of Chidambaram in the case before a Delhi court.

The telecom scam, one of India's biggest graft cases ever, may have cost 39.57 billion dollars in expected revenue losses to the public exchequer as per the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India's report. (ANI)