As part of an investigation into a vast corruption scandal that would have cost the country up to $ 40 billion, an Indian court has cleared Thursday, February 3 police remand in custody the former minister of telecommunications, arrested the day before. Andimuthu Raja is accused of organizing a fraudulent sale of mobile telephone licenses of second generation in 2008, bypassing the normal auction and in granting these licenses to operators ineligible.
According to the Auditor and Controller General of India, this sale would have deprived the Treasury of $ 40 billion, but this figure is disputed by the government. A judge of a special court in New Delhi has approved the request of the federal police, who believed that the minister had remained "evasive" when questioned about the sale.
He was remanded in custody for five days. A lawyer representing the federal police in particular cited dubious agreements with two operators, Swan and Unitech, adding that preliminary estimates of police reported a loss of 220 billion rupees (4.8 billion dollars). The arrest Wednesday of the former minister, who maintains his innocence, has made headlines in the press.
It is extremely rare for a minister holding a portfolio is halted so big in India. In an editorial, The Hindu believes that this arrest is a "significant step" but noted that many questions remain unanswered, like why police waited three years to act. The Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, who has built his career during an image of "Mr.
Clean" was accused of trying to ignore the scandal for political expediency: in his coalition, Congress party needs the regional party which Mr. Raja, the DMK. Andimuthu Raja was forced to resign last November when the scandal was revealed by the Comptroller General. In six decades, only a politician of national importance, Singh Rao ShivBahadur, was sentenced to a prison sentence for corruption.
He had received a jar of wine in 1949. 
According to the Auditor and Controller General of India, this sale would have deprived the Treasury of $ 40 billion, but this figure is disputed by the government. A judge of a special court in New Delhi has approved the request of the federal police, who believed that the minister had remained "evasive" when questioned about the sale.
He was remanded in custody for five days. A lawyer representing the federal police in particular cited dubious agreements with two operators, Swan and Unitech, adding that preliminary estimates of police reported a loss of 220 billion rupees (4.8 billion dollars). The arrest Wednesday of the former minister, who maintains his innocence, has made headlines in the press.
It is extremely rare for a minister holding a portfolio is halted so big in India. In an editorial, The Hindu believes that this arrest is a "significant step" but noted that many questions remain unanswered, like why police waited three years to act. The Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, who has built his career during an image of "Mr.
Clean" was accused of trying to ignore the scandal for political expediency: in his coalition, Congress party needs the regional party which Mr. Raja, the DMK. Andimuthu Raja was forced to resign last November when the scandal was revealed by the Comptroller General. In six decades, only a politician of national importance, Singh Rao ShivBahadur, was sentenced to a prison sentence for corruption.
He had received a jar of wine in 1949.
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