Controversial former corporate lobbyist Niira Radia’s statement in the 2G spectrum allocation case was of “no use” to the prosecution and her testimony lacked any significance, a special court said today. She had deposed as a prosecution witness before Special CBI Judge O P Saini and had stated that Tata Teleservices Ltd (TTSL) was not granted spectrum though they were ahead of others. Radia, who came under media glare when the alleged scam surfaced, failed to win the confidence of the judge. “This witness (Radia) did not cite any reason as to why TTSL did not get the spectrum. Perhaps, she knew that the denial was for right reasons. There is nothing of any significance in her deposition. Her deposition is of no use to prosecution,” the court said in its judgement. The CBI, in its charge sheet filed on April 2, 2011 against former telecom minister A Raja and others, had named Radia as one of the star prosecution witnesses in the case. In her statement recorded during the probe under section 161 of the CrPC (dealing with examination of witnesses) before the CBI, she had said that accused firm Swan Telecom Pvt Ltd. was not eligible to get the Unified Access Service (UAS) Licences.
“Regarding M/s Swan Telecom, which was the only applicant to get the spectrum in Delhi circle, I would like to state that M/s Swan Telecom as applicant was not even eligible for getting a UAS licence, in view of the cross holding clause,” she had told the agency in her statement recorded on December 21, 2010. Radia had also drawn attention in wake of the leak of alleged intercepted telephonic conversations which reflected that she was in constant touch with top politicians, corporate honchos and media personalities.
