Ready to serve life term if ill-gotten money is proved: Raja

Former Telecom Minister A Raja, accused in the 2G spectrum case, has said he is ready to live his entire life in jail if any ill-gotten money is found with him. Raja, who is contesting the Lok Sabha Elections from The Niligiris in Tamil Nadu, cited a report published an English daily in 2011 quoting CBI sources that he had kept Rs 3,000 crore abroad.

‘The same day I went to the judge, showed him the newspaper report and said I want to challenge Income Tax, Enforcement Directorate and CBI if they find one rupee or a dollar in my name, I will not contest the case and I will live my entire life in jail,’ India TV quoted Raja as saying in a release on his interview. 

Raja was arrested on February 2, 2011 and is under trial in an alleged mutli-crore 2G scam by CBI. He is out on bail now. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had estimated that 2G licences allocated to companies under the tenure of Raja in 2008 caused the government a notional loss of about Rs 1.76 lakh crore.