A Raja under scanner for 'threatening' HC judge

PLAYING SAFE: Union Minister A Raja has refused to comment on AIADMK's allegations.

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New Delhi: Madras High Court judge Justice R Reghupathy is yet to name the Union Minister who threatened him to grant bail to the accused in an education scam.

But the Opposition has jumped in to point fingers with All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam President J Jayalalithaa claiming that Union Telecom Minister A Raja had tried to pressurise Justice Reghupathy.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), too, has demanded that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh act on the issue.

Raja, who was allegedly also involved in the multi-thousand crore spectrum scandal in his last term, is yet again at the centre of controversy after Jayalalithaa's allegations.

Jayalalithaa has blamed Raja of putting pressure on Justice Reghupathy to grant bail to the accused in an education scam.

"Every one in Chennai is fully aware who is the king of this mischief. It is very sad that the king continues to hold the important portfolio," AIADMK Rajya Sabha MP Dr V Mythreyan said on Thursday.

Justice Reghupathy had on Monday while hearing the case told an open court that he was under pressure from a Union Minister to grant bail to one of the accused.

Even while the judge has refused to name the Union Minister, the issue has become a matter of serious embarrassment to the Manmohan Singh government in Parliament.

"A minister is not a king. A minister is not a raja. A raja or a king is unaccountable. A minister is accountable. It's a gross impropriety by a member of the Council of Ministers. So it is incumbent on the Prime Minister to find out who the minister is," said Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha and BJP MP Arun Jaitley.

Raja is believed to be close to the lawyer for the accused in the case and even within the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) sections unhappy with Raja getting the best portfolio in the party are scenting chance to get even.

However, Raja did not comment on the allegations.

The focus is now on Justice Reghupathy on whether he will actually come out with a name.

But for the Congress its southern ally has already put the United Progressive Alliance in yet another embarrassing situation.

(With inputs from Smitha Nair)