SC begins hearing on plea for probe into Chidambaram’s role

The Supreme Court today began hearing on a plea filed by an NGO for an investigation into the alleged role of home minister P Chidambaram (the then finance minister) in the 2008 spectrum allocation scam.

The petition filed by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) claims that Chidambaram, who was the finance minister at that time, was in the know of all developments relating to fixation of price for allocation of 2G spectrum.

An SC bench comprising Justices G S Singhvi and S Radhakrishana, which was reconstituted after the retirement of Justice A K Ganguly, took up the plea.

The trial court had given a clean chit to Chidambaram in the 2G spectrum case.

The SC also directed the investigating agencies, including the CBI, Enforcement Directorate and the income tax department, to file a status report on their probe in the 2G spectrum allocation case within three weeks.

The NGO in its petition had sought a ''thorough investigation'' into the role of Chidambaram, who was then finance minister.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, who is appearing for the CPIL, submitted that Chidambaram was very much in the know of the decision taken by Raja and that he was also involved in the issue of fixing price for 2G spectrum.

Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy has also filed a similar petition which would also be taken up by the court.