Sibal wants BJP to apologise for dragging Chidambaram's name in 2G scam

New Delhi - Welcoming the trial court's judgment, Union Human Resources Development Minister Kapil Sibal on Saturday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) should apologise for 'dragging' Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram's name in the 2G spectrum scam case.

"Opposition leaders should now go to Chidambaram personally and tender their apology for using harsh words against him," Sibal told the media here.

"I am very disappointed how some leaders of the Opposition has been blaming us. It has been noticed that on each date prior to hearing on vital issues in courts, the BJP leader used to make statements with a view to influence the judiciary, which was wrong," Sibal added.

Echoing similar sentiments, Union Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal said: "BJP leaders should apologise to the country for making all these allegations against Prime Minister and Home Minister.

Earlier in the day, the trial court dismissed Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy's plea to make Chidambaram co-accused in the 2G spectrum scam case.

Swamy has alleged that Chidambaram was equally culpable like former telecom minister A Raja, as he also had a role in deciding the spectrum pricing and allowing telecom companies to off-load shares to foreign firms
 
The apex court on Thursday quashed 122 spectrum licences granted after January 2008, and asked a trial court to decide whether Chidambaram needs to be probed for his role in the spectrum case.

Swamy had on January 7 submitted documents seeking prosecution of Chidambaram in the case before a Delhi court.
 
The telecom scam, one of India's biggest graft cases ever, may have cost 39.57 billion dollars in expected revenue losses to the public exchequer as per the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India's report.