The Union Finance Ministry's note to the Prime Minister's Office on the allocation of 2G spectrum is a crucial piece of evidence in favour of the jailed former Communications Minister, A. Raja, according to the former Communications and Information Technology Minister, Arun Shourie.

Speaking on the sidelines of a function here on Friday, Mr. Shourie said there seemed to be a “civil war” between senior Ministers in the Manmohan Singh Cabinet and the Prime Minister appeared to be at a loss in handling the issue.

Dr. Singh did not even seem to be aware of such a letter until it surfaced now, he noted.

Mr. Shourie sought to know the stand of Union Ministers Kapil Sibal and Pawan Kumar Bansal on Mr. Raja's arrest. If there was zero loss as claimed by them, why was it that the Central Bureau of Investigation had arrested the former Minister, he asked.

Responding to a question on the CBI saying there was no coercion on the part of the former Telecom Minister, Dayanidhi Maran, in the Aircel deal, he suggested that there could have been inducement.

Mr. Shourie said he was ready to face the CBI. He had publicly declared that he would appear before the investigating agency.

He attributed the success of the Lokpal movement to the 2G scam and the way the Union government handled it.