Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: During the hearing on the affidavit filed by the Prime Minister, Attorney General GE Vahanvati on Tuesday submitted in the Supreme Court that there was no provision in law for granting sanction for filing a complaint.
The Prime Minister’s affidavit had explained the actions taken by his office in response to a request seeking permission to prosecute A Raja in the 2G spectrum allocation scam, while denying that there was ‘inaction’ on PMO’s part in responding to letters written by Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy.
The Attorney General today told the court that the question of granting sanction doesn’t arise as there was no complaint in the matter, adding the sanction is only granted when a court takes cognizance of the case.
Swamy, on his part, told that court that “nothing in law stops me from seeking sanction” from the Prime Minister.
He however sought to absolve the Prime Minister of the responsibility behind delay in filing replies to his letters seeking sanction for prosecuting Raja, saying the bureaucrats in the PMO and the Law Ministry are to blame for that.
He further said that the PM never had any malafide intent and that he never deliberately delayed filing a reply to his letters.
Interestingly, in his response to the affidavit filed in the SC yesterday, Swamy had said that the Solicitor General had misled the court in the case relating to prosecution of A Raja in 2G spectrum case.
Referring to various inter-ministerial and departmental communications made by the Prime Minister`s Office over his various letters seeking nod to prosecute Raja, Swamy asserted that the PMO`s affidavit amply reveals bids to "derail" his plea for prosecution.
"It becomes evident that throughout it was the apparent determination of the government to derail all attempts by me to legally pursue the prosecution in this monumental and unprecedented scam," alleged Swamy.
"Even now the government is quiet without any reservation in shamelessly delineating these manoeuvres," Swamy said, referring to various inter-ministerial and departmental communications, detailed in the PMO`s affidavit over his plea to prosecute Raja.
“It is submitted that such manoeuvres delineated lead to the irresistible inference of collusive complicity of all Government departments concerned, at least in scuttling any progress in processing my application," he alleged.
Swamy pointed out that "except for the three pointed queries from the Prime Minister himself, no attempt appears to have been made to get to the meat of my data."
The Janata Party president lashed out at the Law Ministry and the law officers for allegedly tendering wrong advice to the PMO. Swamy also targeted acting Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal, accusing him of having lack of legal knowledge.
"For example, it is a matter of national shame to see the current Cabinet minister, in charge of DoT, on national television betraying ignorance of the 1984 historic judgement of the apex court that enabled a private complaint to be filed for cognizance in court after obtaining sanction," he said.
He was referring to the landmark 1984 judgement by a Constitution bench of the apex court in AR Antulay case.
"It is such ignorance that has permeated the legal advisory department of the Prime Minister, and thus is part of the cause for the unacceptable delay in processing my plea for sanction," said Swamy in his affidavit.
