The Central Bureau of Investigation — India’s equivalent of the US FBI — charged Andimuthu Raja, his secretary and a former ministry official with abusing their official positions to benefit some telecom companies, said Anurag, a senior CBI official who uses only one name.Raja, who has denied any wrongdoing, was forced to resign from the government in November as the scandal tainted the image of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.The scandal involves the 2008 sale of cellular operating licenses under a “first-come, first-served” process that netted the government only 124 billion rupees ($2.7 billion).Some licenses were awarded to ineligible participants who in turn sold their stakes at a high premium. An auction might have netted the government as much as $39 billion, according to some estimates.Angry opposition parties have accused Singh of shielding Raja and demanded a joint probe by lawmakers from all political parties.The government has rejected that demand, saying the CBI and Supreme Court are already investigating the cellular sale. As a result, opposition lawmakers paralyzed the functioning of both houses of Parliament for four weeks in November-December.
