The CBI had alleged that Tata, which applied for the licence March 4, 2008, had been eliminated in an unfair manner but the group had already admitted that they were late in filing the application. "Then why is the CBI accusing Behura?" the former telecom secretary's lawyer Aman Lekhi asked in the special CBI court.
"I don't understand why there is a hue and cry about Tata. Are they above law and different from other bidders? Does it not amount to dishonesty?" Lekhi, speaking on Behura's behalf, added.
He said it was deputy manager director general of telecom A.K. Srivastava who had supervised all the operations undertake in issuing the licenses.
"It was Srivastava who wrote a letter on Dec 26, 2007, mentioning the policy directive and saying that this would be treated as the final decision… It is on the record," said Lekhi.
"How can Behura be accuse of conspiracy? How does this appeal to common sense?"
The lawyer also argue that it was the responsibility of the Wireless Planning and Coordination (WPC) wing of the telecom subdivision to distribute the licenses and that Behura had no role to play in it.
"Each ministry works with different departments and every department has its own set of everyday jobs… How can he (Behura) be blamed for favouring Swan telecom when he had no role to play?" asked Lekhi.
Behura had Wednesday said the government was responsible for the 2G "mess".
That statement came a day after jailed former relations minister A. Raja dragged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and then finance minister and present Home Minister P. Chidambaram.
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