The Spectrum Tussle - Cdma V Gsm

[Honest 836]

2G scam: Raids at five places; no arrests, says CBI Director

NEW DELHI: CBI on Wednesday said it is carrying out raids at the premises of five persons in connection with the 2G spectrum allocation case but no arrests have been made.

"We have raided the premises of five persons. Raids are still on and any further details cannot be given as of now," CBI Director A P Singh told reporters here.

When asked whether any arrests have been made in the case, Singh said, "Not as of now".

CBI today carried out searches at the residences of former Telecom Minister A Raja in Delhi and Chennai besides carrying out raids at the premises of four Telecom officials, including his personal secretary R K Chandolia.

Raja has been maintaining that he was ready for questioning by the CBI any time.

The Supreme Court had come down heavily on the CBI on November 22 for failing to question Raja and the Telecom Secretary in connection with the scam, saying it was "beating around the bush".

A bench of justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly wondered why the premier investigating agency failed to question the duo despite the CVC and CAG report sharply indicting them for their involvement.

"Any responsible person will question the involvement of the Minister and the Secretary and you (CBI) say that 8,000 documents have been examined. You are beating around the bush. It was (questioning) minimum expected of the CBI. What do you take this court for," the bench had observed during the argument.

Chandolia, who was sent back to his parent department -- Indian Economic Services -- within days of new Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal taking charge, has been quizzed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on the issue of the first-come-first-served basis for the allocation of spectrum in 2008 after the cut off date for receiving applications was advanced by a week from October 1, 2007 to September 25.

Chandolia was personal secretary to Raja at the time of the controversial spectrum allocation in 2008.

The CBI had registered a case on October 21, 2009 against unknown Department of Telecom officials and private persons and companies for allegedly causing loss of thousands of crores of rupees to the exchequer.

The CBI has earlier searched offices of Wireless Planning Cell (WPC), the department responsible for allocating Spectrum, and the office of Deputy Director General (Access Services) of the Telecom Ministry to probe the allegations of connivance of officials with private companies in allocation of Spectrum.

It had also conducted searches in eight cities housing headquarters of various telecom firms in connection with its probe into the alleged scam.

Courtesy : The Economic Times

[Honest 836]

CBI competent to handle alleged 2G scam, no comment on raids: Sibal

NEW DELHI: Communications Minister Kapil Sibal on Wednesday declined comment on the raids by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on the premises of his predecessor A. Raja and associates over the 2G spectrum allocation saying the matter was sub judice.

"CBI is an independent, competent investigating agency. What it does, it does on its own. There is no reaction as fas as we (government) are concerned," Sibal told reporters here when asked for his comments on the raids conducted in the capital and Tamil Nadu.

"Now that the matter is pending in the Supreme Court, it is between the Supreme Court and the CBI. The government is not involved at all," the minister said, adding the government had no "problem" if the apex court monitored the issue.

The remarks came after CBI officials said they were searching the Delhi and Tamil Nadu homes of former communications minister Raja as well as the premises of four of his former aides in the ministry in connection with the 2G spectrum probe .

A team of officers reached Raja's 2-A Motilal Nehru Marg residence here around 7 a.m. Raids continued through noon as well as a few places in Tamil Nadu, the home state of Raja, a DMK leader.

"The raids are being held at five places and we are searching further. Raids are on at different locations. It's too early to give an update," CBI Director A.P. Singh told reporters here a little after noon.

He said Raja was likely to be questioned soon in the scam.

Other officials whose premises were searched included Raja's former private secretary R.K. Chandolia, former telecom secretary Siddharth Behura, member telecom K. Sridhar and deputy director general A.K. Srivastava.

Raja was forced to resign last month after the Comptroller and Auditor General indicted him in the spectrum allocation scam and for causing loss of between Rs.58,000 crore ($12.8 billion) and Rs.1.76 lakh crore ($40 billion) to the exchequer.

The 2G spectrum saga has also continued to cripple parliament since Nov 10 as the opposition has refused to give up its demand for a parliamentary probe into the scam.

Courtesy : The Economic Times

[Honest 836]

2G scam: SC orders probe into loans for telcos

NEW DELHI: Supreme Court has ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation to probe bank loans given to companies which were granted 2G telecoms licences in 2008, Prashant Bhushan, a lawyer involved in the case said on Wednesday.

The apex court has asked CBI to look into SBI's lending of 10,000 crore to four telcos. It also favoured widening of the ambit of the ongoing probe into the 2G spectrum case, saying it should also include the period since 2001 when first-come-first-served was the norm for spectrum allocation.

"The issue raised in the case is not only limited to Rs 1.76 lakh crore but has a much wider compass. We would not like to prejudice the probe. But, what happened in 2001 needs to be looked into. It is for the CBI to investigate and find out," a bench of justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly said.

The judges' remarks assume importance as former Telecom Minister A Raja has maintained that he was treading on the footsteps of his predecessors and was following the 2001 policy.

In 2001, government was not following the policy of auction but was allocating spectrum on first-come-first-served basis.

The apex court also remarked about the policy of transfer of dual technology -- CDMA and GSM, saying that while the notification for the dual technology was issued on October 19, 2009, one of the service provider was given the permission a day earlier.

"What T R Addhyarujina (counsel for A Raja) has pointed out is one thing more than what meets the eyes," the bench said.

The bench further said that even the CAG has not gone into the issue of dual technology.

"This matter has not been investigated," the bench said.

"Why don't you go into the matter from 2001," the bench said, noting that the prices for allocation of spectrum on first-come-first-served basis was fixed at that time.

The Enforcement Directorate, meanwhile, submitted its report on its probe into the scam to the court in a sealed cover.

Submitting its report to the court, Additional Solicitor General Haren Rawal told the bench that it contains details of the investigation since March 9, 2010 in the case that was registered under Prevention of Money Laundering Act and Foreign Exchange Management Act.

He said the probe was carried on the basis of the case related to the scam, registered by the CBI on October 21, 2009.

The report details the investigation carried out till November 29, 2010.

The bench, meanwhile, ruled out the CBI's suggestion that the court should deliver its orders and directions in the 2G spectrum case in a sealed cover.

"Giving orders in sealed cover will not be conducive to the administration of justice," the bench said.

"The functioning of the court and the hearing of the case or the order of the court is not influenced by any criticism. Whether its a munsif court or the Supreme Court, it has to act in its wisdom keeping in mind the Constitution and the public interest," the bench said, dismissing the CBI's suggestion.

The bench said the hearing in the case is being done in open court and everything has been reported and added that despite there being some distortion at times in the (news) reports, all this will have no effect on the court proceedings.

"Giving orders in sealed covers may not be conducive to administration of justice. It is not warranted as it will give rise to speculation, rather wide speculation......", the court reiterated.

"Let us go by our own norms," the bench observed. At this point, senior advocate K K Venugopal, appearing for the CBI, said it is for the court to decide whether to deliver its orders in a sealed cover or in the open court.

Courtesy : The Economic Times

[Honest 836]

Money trail in 2G spectrum scam covers 10 countries: ED

NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate, in its report on 2G spectrum allocation scam submitted to the Supreme Court today, is understood to have said that the case has international ramifications as the money trail covers ten countries, including Mauritius.

Pointing out that enlisting the cooperation of governments of the ten countries was necessary to trace the money trail, the ED report said it would move a competent court for issuance of Letters Rogatory for the purpose, sources said.

The report said the investigation into the scam in the country would be completed by March next year while some more time is required to wrap up the probe in foreign countries, according to the sources.

The report said the ED has recorded the statement of corporate lobbyist Niira Radia in connection with the scam and it is carefully examining the same.

Earlier in the day, the ED submitted its report on its probe into the scam to the apex court in a sealed cover.

Submitting its report to the court, Additional Solicitor General Haren Rawal told the bench that it contains details of the investigation since March 9, 2010 in the case that was registered under Prevention of Money Laundering Act and Foreign Exchange Management Act.

He said the probe was carried out on the basis of the case related to the scam, registered by CBI on October 21, 2009.

The report details the investigation carried out till November 29, 2010.

Courtesy : The Times of India

[Honest 836]

Searches at Raja's house yield diary with 'incriminating' data

NEW DELHI: A diary with "incriminating" details is believed to have been recovered during the searches conducted by the investigating agency yesterday from the residence of former Telecom Minister A Raja , who will be questioned soon.

The "diary", according to sources privy to the probe, has some details pertaining to the allocation of 2G spectrum among other incriminating details.

They said the former Minister will also be questioned by the agency soon.

CBI sleuths spent considerable time in understanding the entries made in the diary which consist of names of some politicians and corporate honchos, sources said.

Efforts to contact Raja for his reaction did not fructify as he was not available for comments.

Meanwhile, the CBI continued to question former Telecom officials and a Chennai-based businessmen whose premised were raided by the agency yesterday.

Besides Raja, the CBI had conducted searches at premises of R K Chandolia, his former personal secretary, Siddhartha Behuria, then DoT secretary, K Sridhar, then Member, Telecom Commission , A K Srivastava, then Deputy Director General, Access Service Wing, DoT, and his business partner Sadiqui Batcha, Managing Director of Chennai-based Greenhouse Exports.

Raja was forced to resign as minister on November 14 in the wake of CAG's report that the rates at which 2G spectrum was allotted resulted in a possible loss to the exchequer to the tune of Rs 1.76 lakh crore.

Besides being accused of undervaluing 2G spectrum, Raja has also been blamed for circumventing the rules to favour companies that did not meet the eligibility criteria for getting spectrum licences.

The CBI action comes close on the heels of Supreme Court coming down heavily on the CBI on November 22 for failing to question Raja and the Telecom Secretary over the scam, saying it was "beating around the bush".

The CBI had registered a case on October 21, 2009 against unknown Department of Telecom officials and private persons and companies for allegedly causing loss of thousands of crores of rupees to the exchequer.

Courtesy : The Economic Times

[swapnil05in 2]

Tata hits out at Govt plicies & Chandrashekhar

My link

[KumaarShah 143]

Courtesy: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/telecom/TRAI-recommends-cancellation-of-38-telco-licences/articleshow/7077659.cms

10 Dec, 2010, 05.51PM IST,AGENCIES

TRAI recommends cancellation of 38 telco licences

NEW DELHI: Telecom regulator, TRAI has recommended the government to cancel 38 telecoms licences, including some held by Telenor, Sistema and Etisalat's Indian ventures, a government statement said on Friday.

Junior Telecoms Minister Sachin Pilot told lawmakers in the upper house of parliament that the regulator had recommended cancelling 31 other telecoms licences after legal examination, the statement added.

Government officials have earlier said the regulator had recommended cancelling some licences as the companies had not met network rollout obligations.

On Thursday, Telecoms Minister Kapil Sibal had said his ministry would send notices to the companies by the end of this week asking them to explain why their licences should not be cancelled.

These telecom firms will be given 60 days to respond. Many companies are facing allegations of not disclosing all facts while applying for 2G licences in 2007.

Recommendation for this strong action was made to the telecom ministry owing to the companies' non-compliance or irregular roll-out of network, as laid down in the contract.

The action came amid the Comptroller and Auditor General slamming the telecom ministry for irregularity and impropriety in giving licences to new players in 2008, causing a loss of a whopping Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the exchequer.

[kesav 127]

BJP’s policy flip flop the most, says Tata

Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata on Thursday accused the BJP of many flip flops in policy. Tata said this while replying to an open letter to him by Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar, and accused Chandrasekhar of playing politics. Of the three major BJP flip flops —NTP 1999, WLL 2001 and UASL 2003—Tata said he approved of two since they helped break what he said was a cartel of incumbent players. He said WLL 2001 and UASL 2003 helped the country achieve 700 million subscribers today.

WLL 2001 allowed fixed land licence holders like Tata to start offering limited mobility telecom services while holding a licence for which it paid495 crore as against the1,651 crore paid by cellular mobile phone firms.

WLL phones also had other advantages like calling-party-pays revenues and different pulse rates. UASL 2003 allowed limited mobile services players like Tata to offer full-blown mobile services — that is, subscribers would be able to roam across cities using these phones, just as they did with cellular mobile phones.

While replying to Chandrasekhar, Tata accused him of distorting facts and resorting to untruths. Without mentioning names, Tata said that while he hoped his reply would be as widely disseminated as Chandrasekhar's letter to him, he was “well aware that some media houses will choose not to publish or air my response in deference to their owners, who are the real gainers in the telecom sector, with whom you have unfortunately aligned to provide a massive diversion of attention away from the real culprits in the telecom space.”

Tata reiterated the point about not getting a level playing field under Raja, and spoke of how firms like Bharti (he did not name anyone) had got extra spectrum; he also spoke of the licences issued by Raja's predecessors at 2001 prices and said this was not highlighted by the media.

He accused Chandrasekhar of being a lobbyist himself: “You parked yourself at the Taj Mahal Hotel Delhi, for several months since 2002 which was the centre of operations for you to prevent entry of WLL Limited Mobility and CDMA as well …

You also constantly solicited support of CII … I take it that in your view this would not constitute lobbying.”

“Your affiliation”, Tata said, “with a particular political party is well known and it appears that their political aspirations and their endeavour to embarrass the Prime Minister and the ruling party may well have been the motivation behind your letter… We should all note that many of the flip flops in the telecom policy occurred during the BJP regime.” In his reply, which he said was preliminary, Chandrasekhar accused Tata of ducking the main issues and instead trying to shoot the messenger. Late in the evening TTSL sent a separate reply to Chandrasekhar on the charges levelled by him on the company for out of turn favour. TTSL denied all such charges.

source :: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/bjps-policy-flip-flop-the-most-says-tata/722790/

Rajeev Chandrashekar is an independent Rajya Sabha MP elected due to support of BJP.

He was past president of COAI.

I think RIM members will not require any further information on this gentleman. :Riendo:

Edited December 10, 2010 by kesav

[kesav 127]

TATA's Letters

http://www.tata.com/pdf/Ratan_Tata_Letter.pdf

http://www.tata.com/pdf/Letter_from_TTSL_to_Rajeev_Chandrasekhar.pdf

http://www.tata.com/pdf/Letter_to_Business_Standard_18Nov10.pdf

http://www.tata.com/pdf/Letter_to_India_Today_08122010.pdf

The first one is really sharp, comprehensive and catches the issue right at its neck......

[kesav 127]

Sibal hits back at BJP on privilege motion

New Delhi, Dec 10 (IANS) Taking on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for threatening to move a privilege motion against him, Communications Minister Kapil Sibal Friday accused it of attempting to use the law to obstruct running of his ministry.

'Now we understand that not only does the law of parliamentary privileges for the BJP mean the privilege to obstruct parliament, but it also means the privilege to obstruct running my ministry,' Sibal told reporters here.

'I wish the leader of opposition had been more thoughtful and circumspect when enunciating the law of parliamentary privileges. For one's vision should not be blurred in enunciating the law when one is obsessed with politics,' he added.

Earlier in the day, the BJP threatened to move a privilege motion against Sibal over setting up of a one-man committee to probe the 2G spectrum allocation issue during 2001 to 2009.

BJP leader Arun Jaitley said his party is seriously examining the possibility of moving a privilege motion against Sibal for announcing the probe at a press conference and not in parliament.

The BJP's Murli Manohar Joshi remarked that Sibal's action was highly objectionable and can invite a privilege motion.

According to Joshi, the general practice is that any policy announcement cannot be made outside the house when parliament is in session.

Sibal Thursday said his ministry has set up a one-man panel to examine how appropriate the current norms are to allocate airwaves to telecom players as the issue has become a matter of hot debate.

The committee will probe the allocation of spectrum from 2001 to 2009, a period also involving the National Democratic Alliance regime.

source :: http://sify.com/finance/sibal-hits-back-at-bjp-on-privilege-motion-news-default-kmkuuegbjib.html

[kesav 127]

Vodafone sees pain for operators as spectrum issue gets resolved

After a meeting with Communication and IT Minister, Mr Kapil Sibal, Vodafone on Friday said that it was confident of a resolution to the ongoing issue over spectrum allocation.

Speaking to Business Line, Mr Marten Pieters, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Vodafone Essar Ltd, said he was encouraged by the positive outlook adopted by the Minister towards the sector.

Complex problem

“The complex problem of spectrum allocation can be resolved by the Government and this may cause pain to some of the operators. If the incumbent players have to bear a part of that pain, Vodafone will be prepared for that as long as the investors get the confidence that the policy and regulatory environment is stable and one that is looking at long term goals,” Mr Pieters said.

“From our meeting with the Minister yesterday we are confident that he understands that telecom is a capital intensive sector and Government objectives of reaching broadband and Internet to the masses will only be achieved if operators bring in the money. The operators will bring in the money only when the investors think that the environment in the industry is good enough. The Minister realises this and wants to set things right once and for all so that the sector sees long term growth,” he added.

In the CEO Council meeting on Thursday, Mr Sibal met telecom service providers and equipment suppliers. The Minister told the operators that telecom sector should not be just regarded as a source of revenue for the Government, but as a larger contributor towards economic growth and welfare of society.

COAI's support

The Cellular Operator's Association of India also came out in support of Mr Sibal saying that “COAI fully endorses and supports the vision of the Minister and has always advocated that the telecom industry is a powerful engine for the socio-economic development of the country.

“Therefore, it is imperative that the National Telecom Policy should aim to nurture the industry to ensure that the National Development goals are achieved and that the industry is not seen as a cash cow to be milked to raise revenues and close the government budget gaps.”

source :: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2010/12/11/stories/2010121152700700.htm

Let us hope this time Mr. Pieters has met Mr. Sibal as CEO of Vodafone instead of his regular job as messenger of Bharti Airtel.

"...this may cause pain to some of the operators. If the incumbent players have to bear a part of that pain, Vodafone will be prepared for that..." is really an unexpected positive sign from Vodafone.

Let us hope Vodafone to break away from cartel and really works as an international player.

[kesav 127]

TRAI has recommended for cancellation of 69 Unified Access Service (UAS) Licenses

TRAI has recommended cancellation of 38 licenses for roll-out obligation as per following details:

Aircel Ltd. --> 1

Dishnet Wireless Ltd. --> 3

Etisalat DB Telecom Pvt. Ltd. --> 2

Loop Telecom Ltd. --> 14

Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd. --> 10

Unitech Wireless (East) Pvt. Ltd. --> 2

Unitech Wireless (North) Pvt. Ltd. --> 5

Unitech Wireless (West) Pvt. Ltd. --> 1

Further TRAI has also recommended for cancellation of 31 UAS licenses after legal examination as per following details:

Aircel Ltd. --> 1

Allianz Infratech (P) Ltd. --> 2

Etisalat DB Telecom Pvt. Ltd. --> 11

Loop Telecom Ltd. --> 6

Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd. --> 1

Videocon Telecommunications Ltd. --> 10

source :: http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=0

Edited December 10, 2010 by kesav

[Karthik R 246]

Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC): What is that?

Mandated to inquire into a specific subject, a JPC is constituted either through a motion adopted by one House and concurred by the other, or, through communication between the presiding officers of the two Houses. The members are either elected by the Houses or nominated by the presiding officers. As in the case of other parliamentary committees, they are drawn from different groups. The strength of a JPC may vary. For instance, one JPC comprised 15 members, while two others had 30 members each. The Lok Sabha share is double than that of the Rajya Sabha.

What are the powers of a JPC?

A JPC can obtain evidence of experts, public bodies, associations, individuals or interested parties suo motu or on requests made by them. If a witness fails to appear before a JPC in response to summons, his conduct constitutes a contempt of the House.

The JPC can take oral and written evidence or call for documents in connection with a matter under its consideration. The proceedings of parliamentary committees are confidential, but in the case of the joint committee which went into "Irregularities in Securities and Banking Transactions", the committee decided that considering the widespread public interest in the matter, the chairman should brief the press about deliberations of the committees.

Ministers are not generally called by the committees to give evidence. However, in case of the Irregularities in Securities and Banking Transactions probe again, an exception was made, with the JPC, with the permission of the Speaker, seeking information on certain points from ministers and calling Ministers of Finance and Health and Family Welfare.

The government may withhold or decline to produce a document if it is considered prejudicial to the safety or interest of State. The Speaker has the final word on any dispute over calling for evidence against a person or production of a document.

How many JPCs have been there till date? What have been their findings? Has anyone been convicted by them?

There have been only four investigative JPCs so far.

The first was instituted to inquire into the Bofors contract on a motion moved by then defence minister K C Pant in the Lok Sabha on August 6, 1987. The Rajya Sabha endorsed it a week later. The committee, headed by B Shankaranand, held 50 sittings and gave its report on April 26, 1988. Opposition parties boycotted the committee on the ground that it was packed with Congress members. The JPC report was tabled in Parliament, but it was rejected by the Opposition.

The second investigative JPC, headed by former Union minister and senior Congress leader Ram Niwas Mirdha, was set up to probe Irregularities in Securities and Banking Transactions in the aftermath of the Harshad Mehta scandal. The motion was moved by then minister for parliamentary affairs Ghulam Nabi Azad in the Lok Sabha on August 6, 1992. The Rajya Sabha concurred with it the next day. The recommendations of the JPC were neither accepted in full nor implemented.

The third investigative JPC was assigned to probe the market scam. Then parliamentary affairs minister Pramod Mahajan piloted a motion in the Lok Sabha on April 26, 2001, to put it in place. Senior BJP member Lt Gen Prakash Mani Tripathi (retd) was named the chairman. The committee held 105 sittings and gave its report on December 19, 2002. The committee recommended sweeping changes in stock market regulations. However, many of these recommendations were diluted later.

The last JPC was set up in August 2003 to look into pesticide residues in soft drinks, fruit juice and other beverages and to set safety standards. The committee, headed by NCP chief Sharad Pawar, held 17 sittings and submitted its report to Parliament on February 4, 2004. The report confirmed that soft drinks did have pesticide residues and recommended stringent norms for drinking water.

Why does the Opposition want a JPC?

The Public Accounts Committee of Parliament is supposed to conduct a detailed examination of the reports of the Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG), scrutinising the yearly accounts of the Government. Having 15 members of the Lok Sabha and seven members of the Rajya Sabha, the chairmanship of the PAC conventionally goes to a nominee of the main opposition party. The PAC calls upon ministries to explain cases of financial irregularities. The Opposition argument is that the 2G spectrum scam goes far beyond accounting. A JPC can spread its net wider and go into the larger gamut of allocation and look into the role of various players. More, once a JPC gets going, it would help the Opposition keep the heat on the government through consistent reporting of proceedings. The moot point is that PAC chairman Murli Manohar Joshi is already waiting in the wings to go into the CAG report. In case the government accepts the demand for a JPC, in effect, it may mean both a JPC and PAC.

Courtesy : News MSN

[Honest 836]

DoT to issue notice to errant tele firms from tomorrow

NEW DELHI: It’s payback time. The department of telecom (DoT) will issue on Monday its first set of show cause notices to companies that were ineligible to receive 2G licences /spectrum in 2008, as well as to those that failed to meet their basic rollout obligations.

According to DoT secretary R Chandrashekhar, legal opinion from the law ministry is in place, which is the precursor to the issuance of show cause notices to these firms. ‘‘ DoT’s actions will impact roughly 200 licences. We will issue the first few notices on Monday, but the process could run into several days,’’ Chandrashekhar told ToI. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had identified 85 of 122 licences issued in 2008 as ineligible because these companies had misrepresented facts.

In addition, TRAI had written to DoT on November 18 this year, asking it to cancel 38 licences and legally examine another 31 for failure to meet rollout obligations. In both cases, DoT, as licenser, should have been the one to identify these irregularities, which it failed to. The department now faces investigations from several quarters to uncover the violations in procedures that led to the loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the public purse.

Even if 100 companies qualify for licence cancellations, it would mean 440 MHz of spectrum will return to the government , ending the prevailing spectrum scarcity mindset. The companies impacted by this include Unitech (Uninor), Loop Telecom , Datacom, S Tel , Swan Telecom (Etisalat) and Sistema Shyam (MTS).

It’s likely that these companies will resort to litigation to protect their interests. Much of this will be open to interpretation . The TRAI Act provides for dispute resolution between the licenser (DoT) and the licensee (defaulting companies ) under Section 14. The first point of appeal will be TDSAT from where a right to a statutory appeal lies with the Supreme Court.

It may be difficult for SC to club these matters since it would seem that the details of each specific case would be different . It will also require DoT to effectively reinforce its legal team including law officers since Sanchar Bhavan simply isn’t ready for this quantum of litigation.

The only way out of such widespread litigation will be a huge settlement package, which will minimally have to be accompanied by recovery of thousands of crores of lost exchequer revenue. Without that, any proposal for settlement will be rejected outright by courts, and seen as a sellout by Parliament, especially the Opposition parties , which are refusing to budge from their demand for a JPC, which may well continue into the Budget session. It seems the uncertainties in India’s telecom investment environment will worsen before they get better.

Courtesy : The Economic Times

[dkaile 1,051]

All this tussle... uffff...

cdma vs gsm

sibal vs bjp

tata vs bjp vs sibal

voda vs govt

too much tension; all this reminds me of this classic from Golmaal 3 - enjoy...

Edited December 12, 2010 by dkaile

[rajanmehta 4,056]

Bravo Jedi!! Thanks for the much needed relief

[Honest 836]

DoT starts sending show-cause notices to erring telcos

NEW DELHI: The telecom ministry today started issuing show-cause notices to telecom companies which allegedly suppressed information to bag licences or failed to roll out services in stipulated time.

"Show-cause notices to some firms have gone today and we expect to complete the process in the next few days," Telecom Secretary R Chandrasekhar told reporters here.

The notices would be served to about nine firms, consisting of 119 licences, of which 85 are allegedly ineligible to get licences and the remaining for missing roll-out obligations.

The notices for a total of 119 licences would be based on the list of licencees, as pointed out by the CAG, that were ineligible to get licences due to misinformation furnished by them. The telecom regulator TRAI also recommended cancellation of licences for lapses in roll-out obligations.

When asked how many notices were issued today, Chandrasekhar declined to divulge details, but said the process would be completed in a few days.

The Comptroller and Auditor General had listed out licences given to new operators, including Unitech , Videocon , S-Tel, Loop and Swan . TRAI also pointed lapses in licences held by these apart from few others while recommending their cancellation.

"We believe that some of the companies might have suppressed facts, might have got an undue advantage in accessing licences," Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal had said last week.

The government auditor CAG has quantified a revenue loss of up to Rs 1.76 lakh crore for giving licences and spectrum at 2001 price of Rs 1,651 crore for pan-India operations by former telecom minister A Raja in January 2008.

Chandrasekhar said the operators would be given 60 days to respond to the show-cause notices and each case would be dealt separately.

"After studying their response, a decision will be taken on whether these (licences) need to be cancelled or a penalty should be imposed," he said.

Courtesy : The Economic Times

[Honest 836]

Don't drag names until we decide Radia tapes, SC tells media

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today asked the media not not to drag the name of any person figuring in the controversial Niira Radia tapes until the case was decided by it as dignity of every individual was precious.

It even warned journalists of being hauled up if the 'lakshman rekha' is crossed.

A bench of justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly while warning the media from crossing the "Lakshman lekha" chided it for "distorted" reporting of the court proceedings during the past three weeks on the 2G spectrum.

"Till we decide nobody's name should be dragged in the media. The image of a person should not be tarnished. All of us know that the most priced right is the right to dignity and none of the right is above it," it observed.

Taking umbrage at the "distorted" reporting, the court asked media not to "take risk" by such reports but added it valued the role of press as "watchdog" of the society.

"They must not cross the Lakshman lekha. They are crossing the limits every day. From now on they would do it at their own peril. For three weeks there has been distorted versions of the proceedings of this court. This is most unfortunate. We will not ignore any nonsense henceforth."

Justice Singhvi said, he was aghast to see the telecast in a news channel on certain queries raised by it on Union Home Secretary G K Pillai's purported remarks on the tapes

"My wife asked me what type of orders you are passing?" Justice Singhvi remarked amidst laughter, citing the reported telecast by a news channel which had used the word that Pillai was "slammed" by the apex court.

"They said SC raps Home Secretary. What is the language they use," he asked, referring to certain queries raised by it on Pillai's remarks on the contents of the tape.

The bench said it would not tolerate any attempt by the media to tarnish the image of any individual or counsel appearing in the case as every individual's dignity was paramount.

The apex court said the media should conduct itself in a responsible manner as the society appreciates its role in democracy.

"Distorted reports are appearing in the media. We are making it very clear nobody will be allowed to tarnish the image of the counsel. There are exchanges of words in the court. They do not constitute an order or direction.

"It should stop as till now we have ignored. Now we are making it clear, don't take the risk of being hauled up. We are making it very clear nobody will be allowed to play with the proceedings of the court. Use restraint in reporting the views," the bench advised the media.

"Most irresponsible reports are appearing. They (media) are watchdog of democracy. Everybody appreciates the role of media and the important contribution they make," the bench observed.

Attorney General G E Vahanvati intervened to complain that a section of the media had "misreported" that he had tendered an apology to the court during the hearing.

Senior counsel Harish Salve appearing for Rata Tata maintained that a "delicate balance" has to be struck between a "free media and individual's privacy." He submitted that many media houses in the country were backed by corporate houses.

He said Outlook and India Today group and CNN -IBN had huge investments from companies.

The counsel said the conversations being reported by media mostly centred on third party conversations which "may be true or untrue."

Citing an editorial in a newspaper on the centre's affidavit in the Radia tapes, he said, "This kind of reports must stop".

However, senior counsel Anil Divan, appearing for Outlook magazine, complained that statements are being made across the bar without providing any written material

He wanted Salve to put the same in the form of written submission so that a comprehensive reply could be filed.

Courtesy : The Economic Times

[kesav 127]

A very valid and vital warning to 'media'.

:clap:

Court proceedings are not cricket matches to run live commentary.

It's a process which takes months to arrive at a conclusion.

Judges will use certain harsh words towards counsels to extract the truth in the mid of of the proceedings. That does not mean the Judges have already decided verdict.

In most of the cases, counsels who have been chided by Judges in the proceedings turns out to be victors of the case.

Court room verbal exchanges are the time at which Jury extracts the truth and learns the case.

It's totally in bad taste to report such exchange of words in court room to outside world.

Let media give opportunity to court decide the case rather than trying to navigate the direction of the verdict to their liking.

Let media wait for final verdict and run if they want 1000-page editorial on the verdict. Court will be very happy to listen to it.

Somehow, I feel it's time for Govt. to intervene and ensure the revenue for news media does not come from corporates.

Otherwise our democracy is at risk we'll end up having only 'paid' news rather than 'free' news.

[kesav 127]

CAG faces PAC today, to explain the mystery of Rs1.76 lakh crore

The comptroller and auditor general of India (CAG), Vinod Rai, will appear before Parliament’s public accounts committee (PAC) on Monday in connection with the CAG report on the 2G spectrum allocation. The accounts watchdog body has pegged the loss of revenue due to arbitrary allocation of 2G licences by former telecom minister A Raja at Rs1.76 lakh crore.

The PAC might seek a satisfactory response from Rai on the procedure adopted to reach at such a mind-boggling figure, sources well-versed with the investigation process said. The size of the sum involved in the alleged scam has led it to be termed the ‘mother of all scandals’.

Only if the PAC - it’s headed by senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi — feels that there’s a strong reason to seek a reply from prime minister Manmohan Singh, then it would respond to his offer to appear before it to answer queries and clear doubts.

The opposition has been demanding a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into the 2G scam and has already rejected the prime minister’s offer to appear before the PAC.

Joshi had taken the decision to summon Rai at the PAC’s last meeting earlier this month.

“Taking into consideration the importance of the subject and the nationwide interest evinced in it, the committee has decided to invite memoranda containing views/suggestions from various individuals, experts, associations, institutions, organisations interested in the subject matter,” the Lok Sabha secretariat said in a notification.

The PAC has been examining the ‘recent developments in the telecom sector including allocation of 2G and 3G spectrum’ since June and has asked for views within the next 15 days. It has already obtained valuable information from the department of telecommunication, finance ministry, the telecom regulatory authority of India (Trai) and experts in the telecom sector through oral deposition and written submission, it is learnt.

In its last meeting, former telecom secretary Siddharth Behura is understood to have told the panel that all decisions related to spectrum allocation were taken by Raja and he only carried out the orders.

source :: http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_cag-faces-pac-today-to-explain-the-mystery-of-rs1-76-lakh-crore_1486313

Edited December 27, 2010 by kesav

[kesav 127]

PM Manmohan Singh's PAC offer rips BJP apart

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seems to have divided the BJP vertically and made its more than a month-long demand for a JPC probe into the 2G telecom scam redundant.

By offering to appear before veteran BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi-led PAC (Public Accounts Committee), the PM had made an unprecedented offer, which left him exposed to the more orthodox section of the BJP (represented by Joshi) and not by LK Advani or Sushma Swaraj.

Joshi had seen better days, especially in the aftermath of the Babri Masjid demolition, and was off the limelight till the PM deliberately pointed the spotlight at him, angering and dividing the BJP when the PAC chairman actually seemed likely to accept the offer.

To pre-empt any such possibility, Sushma Swaraj ramped up the BJP in-house tussle today with Joshi.

She wants to make sure Joshi's willingness to consider PM Manmohan Singh's offer to appear before him to clear up any 2G scam related querries favourably remains confined and stops short of actually accepting it.

However, the PM's offer has given a new lease of political life to the almost-forgotten Joshi and the latter is in no mood to let it go, as can be seen from his insistence not to follow the BJP line.

To reinforce the BJP stand, Sushma Swaraj today sent yet another message to Joshi in public saying Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's offer was entirely meaningless.

She insisted that the JPC has a different scope.

But Joshi is still toeing his own line and made it very clear that his panel was independent enough to go into the 2G spectrum issue despite Swaraj contending that the PAC cannot even call a Minister.

"Under the Lok Sabha Rules, PAC cannot call a Minister, much less the Prime Minister. (The) Prime Minister's offer therefore, has no meaning," she tweeted.

Her comments come a day after Singh wrote to PAC chairman Joshi expressing his readiness to appear before the panel, which is probing the 2G Spectrum scam.

Joshi, has made things worse for BJP as he does not seem to be very enthusiastic about the campaign for a JPC.

Yesterday he said that the PAC will take an "appropriate decision at an appropriate time" on Singh's offer after going through rules and procedures and in accordance with them.

Swaraj said the "scope of PAC is totally different from that of JPC. While PAC deals with accounts, JPC deals with accountability and governance."

Under Speaker's Direction 99 under the rules of procedures and conduct of business in Lok Sabha, the 22-member PAC cannot call a minister to give evidence or for consultations in connection with the examination of accounts by it.

The chairman of the committee, however, may have an informal talk with a minister on the subject under consideration by the committee.

Since the Prime Minister's offer is unprecedented in its nature, the Speaker may have to devise a procedure on how the committee could accept it.

source :: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/pm-manmohan-singhs-pac-offer-rips-bjp-apart/730210/

As expected, the war has started between old brigade(lead by Joshi) vs new brigade(led by Jaitley) of BJP.

As always BJP never has any central command and it'll always work head-less with each one trying to dictate terms.

From the beginning of this JPC issue, young arrogant BJP leaders(Jaitley, Swaraj, Gadkari) never showed any rationality and tried to hold on to their egos rather than looking at the offers made by the ruling party.

Worst part is that they never listened to their seasoned leaders like Advani, Joshi and others who realized in the mid of the parliamentry logjam that JPC is not necessary for this issue.

Let us wait and pray that seasoned BJP leaders will take control of the party and pull the arrogant young horses into the meaningful course.

For a democracy to succeed, we need matured opposition.

[rajanmehta 4,056]

2G Spectrum Scam-Easy To Understand In Pictures and Infographs

[kesav 127]

Although the effort put by the reporter to make the pictorial is appreciable but the intention is malicious and condemnable to the core.

The complete pictorial is loaded against one particular person and tries to bury the truth with help of true lies.

(1) "First Come First Serve(FCFS)" is a policy which was formulated by then BJP telecom minister. Ideally the timeline must have started from 2001

(2)"Raja rules out 2G spectrum auction ignoring TRAI recommendation" is a lie. TRAI never recommended auction of 2G spectrum as TRAI was clear that auction will never stand in the court of law since incumbents were alloted 2G spectrum on the basis of FCFS. Auctioning the 2G spectrum in the middle of course will not only be pro-incumbents but will effectively drive away new entrants thus proving entirely anti-competitive. TRAI always felt FCFS to be continued but it only proposed to revise the1651 crore for pan-India spectrum to the level of current of market conditions.

(3)"DoT, under A Raja's charge circumvents TRAI's recommendations to allow for the sale of stakes in companies" is just atrocious and malicious lie. Never TRAI asked DoT to stop the sale of stakes On the contrary, TRAI was always for faster and quicker merger & acquisition norms which will allow better consolidation and at the same time disallow 'big fish eating small fish' situation

(4)"By allowing resale of stakes, DoT lost more than 60,000 crore". The wordings in the statement is completely malicious. DoT never allowed resale of stakes but to be precise DoT did not prevent resale of stakes initially till the below scenario rose.

(5)"Raja tells telecom commission to ban the sale of promoters' equity after SWAN and Unitech deals". Here again the wordings were twisted to push reporter's objective rather than reveal the truth in its spirit. No one(Govt, opposition, TRAI, DoT, Competition Commission,etc.,) on earth predicted that Etisalat and Telenor will pour in such huge money into Indian Telecom at the time when spectrum were distributed. Once these two miraculous events happened, DoT immediately swung into action to prevent such further sales. It is not that DoT & Raja wants to prevent other companies from selling but allowing SWAN and Unitech.

The above pictorial is the classic example of the state of media in India. It's completely biased towards money and it has only one motto of making paid propaganda for their illegal financiers.

Edited December 28, 2010 by kesav

[rajanmehta 4,056]

The house that Raja built

DMK chief M Karunanidhi seems to have been in the dark as A Raja and his coterie built a huge business empire. JEEMON JACOB unearths exclusive and mind-boggling details

AS THE 2G spectrum scam unfolded, senior DMK leaders were in for a shock. Till the raids by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), they believed that Andimuthu Raja's actions as Union telecom minister were dictated by his master, DMK supremo and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, and that the protege was merely taking his 'commission', a well-understood practice in politics and business — and in the business of politics. But now they know Raja was aggressively building a parallel business empire that would have rivalled the K-family's if he had continued in power. Which is ironic, for when Raja was preferred over family member Dayanidhi Maran for the telecom minister's post, it was because he was considered so loyal that he could never be a threat.

No wonder, right from May 2010, when both Houses of Parliament were rocked by demands for Raja's resignation over the 2G scam, Karunanidhi backed him, saying detractors were opposed to him because he is a Dalit. But after the December raids and subsequent disclosures, the DMK chief ended up saying that Raja would be punished if he was found guilty.

If Raja wants to uplift downtrodden Dalits, a pious declaration he makes from time to time, his starting point is clearly his own family. Raja has a wife, three brothers and four sisters, and a proportionate number of nephews and nieces, all of whom provided names and faces for expanding the diversified conglomerate. His only daughter is still too young, but his relatives, friends and old associates have all been roped in to run the business empire.

Raja's modus operandi, say CBI sources, was not very sophisticated: he did what film folk do, floating companies in different names and channelling funds to them via two or three other front companies. He ran this empire through proxy and to ensure that the directors didn't take their roles too seriously, he apparently asked them to give him advance undated resignations.

As the CBI puts the jigsaw puzzle together, it finds Raja had set up front companies well before the spectrum allocation: a mix of hawala channels, realty firms, NGOs, family trusts and export firms ensuring safe passage for the spoils of politics. For this, he established contact with NRIs, audit firms in Malaysia and local companies in Chennai, Perambalur, Trichy, and Coimbatore. With easy money flowing in, many became millionaires overnight.

One such man was Sadiq Batcha, who heads several real estate firms in Chennai. Twenty years ago, he was a salesman in Pallapatti village in Salem district, knocking at doors to sell sarees on 10 instalments. Later, he sold radios and tape recorders. Unable to make ends meet, he migrated to Perambalur, where he met AIADMK's Varathur Arunachalam. This was his stroke of luck, his key to fame and fortune. Arunachalam introduced him to Raja, a small-time DMK politician. Both were ambitious and ready to take risks. It was Raja who told him to venture into real estate. With small investments on both sides, they grew together. Today Batcha's real estate empire is worth more than Rs. 2,000 crore.

Batcha floated companies one after another with Raja's close relatives on the board of directors. Chennai-based Green House Promoters, a private limited company set up in 2004 with a seed capital of Rs. 1 lakh, grew exponentially to record a turnover of several hundred crores in a short span. It opened an office in Singapore in 2006. Raja's wife Parameshwari joined the board in 2007. The Enforcement Directorate issued a notice to the company for Foreign Exchange Management Act violations and the Singapore office was shut down in 2009.

It was clear from the transactions that the office had been set up to channel huge amounts of money to Chennai. For this, Batcha used his connections in Malaysia and Dubai. Later, Welcome Communications, a Malaysia-based telecom company, channelled the scam money to Chennai through its Indian arm Wellcom. The latter was in the news in March 2009, when there were reports that a company run by Raja's associate, T Silvarajoo, was participating in the WiMax franchise allotment by BSNL. Subsequently, BSNL refrained from shortlisting Wellcom, also dropping Wipro and Cisco for good measure.

WHILE INTERROGATING RP Paramesh Kumar, the son of Raja's sister Vijayammal, and joint managing director of Green House Promoters, the CBI has unearthed huge money transfers through export orders. The Enforcement Directorate is probing the possibility of the use of textile and vegetable exporters based in Chennai, Tirupur and Coimbatore to channel the money through hawala operations.

Paramesh Kumar is a common factor in all Raja companies, whose personal and company accounts show large-scale money transactions. But then, all the companies made huge profits within a short span of time — and this happened from 2008 onwards, right when the rest of the world was coping with the global meltdown.

The money seems to have flowed as follows: companies that were favoured with spectrum allocation sold it off at a huge profit, sent the money abroad, from where it flowed back to show up as profit in Raja's business empire. Raja also depended on his family, friends and associates to park the money while others dumped their shares in Dubai, Singapore, Malyasia and Sri Lanka. The money involved was so huge that it could not be absorbed only in benami properties, which is the usual way to stash away ill-gotten wealth in India. Swiss bank accounts are no longer safe, as they were for earlier generations.

The CBI seems to have had good reason to raid the charity Tamil Maiyam run by Catholic priest Jegath Gasper Raj (Raiders of the Lost Loot, TEHELKA, 25 December). The NGO, which actively raised funds for rehabilitation of the 2004 tsunami victims, has links to Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Singapore, all of which is being probed. More damningly, from 2007 onwards, the NGO received large amounts of money from Green House India Promoters, Equaas Real Estates and Kovai Shelters. The ETA Ascon Star Group also made donations. If the CBI manages to establish that spectrum beneficiary companies gave large donations to Tamil Maiyam, the noose will tighten around Raja and his close friend Kanimozhi, Rajya Sabha MP and Karunanidhi's daughter, who is on the non-profit's board of directors.

Raja proved to be the man with the Midas touch not only for Batcha but also for S Saravanan, who started as a humble servant in Royal Enterprises, the furniture shop run by Rajathiammal, Karuna - nidhi's third wife and Kanimozhi's mother. Today, Saravanan is one of Chennai's crorepatis. His road to riches was paved with shady transactions such as the Voltas land deal in Chennai, which figured in the Radia tapes. Voltas is a Tata concern. Though Rajathiammal issued a press release on 17 December distancing herself from the land deal, she had admitted the mediator in the land deal was her employee Saravanan, who holds power of attorney of the disputed land, which is owned by PN Shanmugham, PN Arumugham and 16 others.

Voltas had taken the 53,000 sq ft plot on a 30-year lease in 1975. In 2005, when the company asked for a renewal, the owners did not oblige and filed a case in the Madras High Court, which is still pending. The company kept depositing the rent but the plot was sold by Saravanan to Shangkalpam Industries Pvt Ltd, Coonoor, for a sum of Rs. 25 crore, much below the market price, which is estimated to be around Rs. 200 crore. The land deal was struck just before the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. But Voltas never pursued the case and the court never sent notices to the respondents. It's clear that highlevel mediation silenced the company and prevented it from actively pursuing legal proceedings. Now it's up to the CBI to find out how Saravanan was able to get the power of attorney of 18 persons and execute the land deal.

Shangkalpam Industries, which now owns the property, is run by Dr Shanmughanathan Vellanthurai, 45, a Malay - sian auditor and businessman. He is also director of Shan & Co, an audit firm which has close links with Raja and Ratnam, who is Rajathiammal's auditor. Shanmugham is a tax expert who once worked with Ernst & Young. It's a mystery why the Income Tax department didn't bother to probe the prime land deal in Chennai — normally, its intelligence wing does routine checks on big land deals. Only after the Radia tapes were leaked did the CBI interrogate Ratnam and raid his residence. The CBI is exploring whether any spectrum money was used for the land deals.

According to a business associate, Dr Shanmughanathan has close contacts with Raja and is an influential businessman in Malayasia. He is also on the board of Kamdar Group (M) Berhad, an investment holding company, and engages in the import, export, retail and wholesale of textile and textile-based products globally. The Kamdar group has operations in South Africa too. It is said his close relatives are manning Shangkalpam Industries in India. Dr Shanmughanathan was introduced to A Raja by his relative, Dr Kumaraswamy Shanmughanathan, who heads the Colacumby tea estates in the Nilgiris and is a PhD in dairy science.

SHANGKALPAM LTD has an office in London, registered at the address 188 Royal College Street. The company was incorporated in 1993 and Shangkalpam Ltd owns a tea estate in Nilgiris, the constituency represented by Raja in the Lok Sabha. The company has operations in Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and Dubai, the countries to which Raja and his men travel most frequently.

Raja & Co's real estate operations were never innocuous. His henchmen effectively used mafia, police and the district administration to wrest land from the poor. He didn't shy away from squeezing poor Dalits in his hometown Perambalur.

Projecting a grand vision of making the town the industrial hub of Tamil Nadu, Raja contacted MRF and offered 400 acres to set up a new plant for manufacturing passenger and truck tyres and a trial track. Batcha signed an MoU with MRF for acquiring land in November 2007. Atter a month, while inaugurating the district police station in Perambalur, Raja announced a Rs. 900 crore MRF project, which was greeted with loud cheers by the poor farmers.

Raja's men had already started buying farmland offering Rs. 65,000-80,000 per acre in Naranamangalam village. Within months, they acquired 250 acres of land from 130 villagers.

Some of the villagers, including Dalits, were not ready to sell their land at such a low price. Then Raja showed his true colours. First he threatened them that the land will be notified by the government and forcefully taken over. The poor villagers knew that litigation will swallow up the next 10-15 years, during which the politician could manipulate anything. A majority of them yielded to pressure and sold their land. Then Raja targeted the remaining villagers. Many of them were arrested and threatened by police, district administration and Raja's men. A few non-Dalits were even arrested under the SC/ST Act and released abruptly once their land was transferred to Green House Promoters. Even women were not spared, being detained illegally in police stations and released only after the title documents were signed. The MRF plant is scheduled to start operations in April-May, 2011.

According to insider information, Green House Promoters sold the land to MRF for Rs. 15-18 lakh per acre. District Collector Anil Meshram and then Superintendent of Police Prem Anand Sinha were the people facilitating Raja's dream to transform dry Perambalur. After Raja was raided by the CBI, around 160 villagers, including 80 Dalits, came forward to petition the National Human Rights Commission about the land grab.

Thanks to his proximity with the K-family, Raja influenced the state government to announce a Ring Road at a cost of Rs. 25 crore and announced an SEZ at an investment of Rs. 5,000 crore. Green House Promoters acquired land nearby and is running a project on 50 acres.

All the directors of these real estate firms, whose total assets run into Rs 3,000 crore, hail from Perambalur. These firms were set up just after Raja became a Union minister of state for environment and forests in May 2004. A Kamaraj, associate editor of Nakeeran, is a sleeping partner in many of the companies and his wife was running the Chennai operations of Vaishnavi Com - mu nications. Their books are professionally managed. The bank accounts in State Bank of India branch at Thiru - vanaikoil indicate huge transactions in the name of Raja's elder brother A Ramachandran, and his sister Saroja. Investigators are exploring whether officers in the chief minister's office were involved, but their focus is not on the K-family, only on Raja & Co.

But the involvement of Raja's family in these businesses doesn't need any proving. His wife Parameshwari joined the board of directors of Green House and Equaas Estates Pvt Ltd in 2007 and resigned in 2008. While she was on board, the minister's official residence was listed as her business address. His niece R Malarvizhi is a director in both firms. The company has 12 projects in posh areas of Chennai and another seven in Trichy. After resigning, Parameswari transferred her shares to Malarvizhi.

IN FACT, both Green House and Equaas Estates were floated by Raja's close relatives soon after he became a minister. His nephew Paramesh Kumar was joint managing director. His brother A Kaliaperumal and his nephew R Ramganesh are directors. Within a year, the company showed a turnover of Rs. 755 crore.

Then there is Kovai Shelters and Promoters, Chennai. Its managing director Dr Krishnamoorthy is a close associate of Raja dating back to the time when Raja was a lawyer and had an office in Krishnamoorthy's building in Perambalur. Dr R Sridhar, Raja's nephew and a deputy director in the Ministry of Environment and Forests, holds 15 per cent shares of the company. Raja's niece R Anandabhuvaneswari holds another 15 percent stake, as does another niece R Santhanalakshmi.

Similarly, AGM Investment and Finance Pvt Ltd, Coimbatore, was promoted by Dr Krishnamoorthy and his brother C Sathyanarayanan soon after Raja became a Union minister.

If these companies were flush with cash, Raja's charitable moves also paid off. He donated land for a governmental project via a trust he floated in the name of his late mother. Velur Andimuthu Chinnapillai Charitable Trust, headed by his brother Kaliaperumal, was set up in 2001. Raja and his close relatives offered to donate land for setting up educational institutions in Othium village. The trust donated 30.28 acres where the government has announced a medical college, 8.51 acres for an arts and science college at Karumbalur village and 4.5 acres for a technical school, all these institutions to be named after his father or mother.

Green House purchased large tracts of farmland nearby for a price of Rs. 35,000 to 3 lakh per acre. After announcing the projects, the land value of the area shot up to Rs. 50 lakh per acre. By that time, Green House Promoters had announced housing projects and commercial complexes in the area. Thus a huge profit was made on what looked like philanthropy.

Raja has three brothers and four sisters. He is the youngest of them all but has feathered not only all their nests, but that of their myriad children as well. The nation is the poorer for this.

As these facts tumble into the public domain, will Karunanidhi drop Raja? It is a tricky situation as it was the DMK supremo who bargained hard with the Congress to get him a seat in Nilgiris when Perumbalur, Raja's home constituency, was listed as a general seat. Even if members of the K-family like Stalin, Azhagiri and Maran put pressure on the veteran leader to expel Raja, ostensibly to save the party image, Karunanidhi might hold back due to fears that Raja can play Brutus. And since his business deals involved Rajathiammal and Kanimozhi, Raja could implicate them by revealing too much during interrogation. Such a stab in the back from Raja would hurt the family.

Not just that, there would be political repercussions if the DMK first family leaves Raja to his own devices. For the impact on the Dalit vote of such a drastic move could damage the party's prospects as Tamil Nadu heads for polls.

SO, WHODUNNIT?

The byzantine rumour bazaar of power-crazed Delhi is rife with wild conspiracy theories about who leaked the Radia tapes and for what purpose. Here go some of the most imaginative ones:

THEORY #1 Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had the tapes leaked to kill two birds with one stone: upstage Home Minister P Chidambaram and teach 10, Janpath, a not-so gentle lesson about nuisance value. Rumour has it that there is a bitter rivalry between the UPA's two most powerful ministers. The finance minister is whispered to be close to Mukesh Ambani; the home minister apparently prefers younger brother Anil. Both would like the PM's post. There is already talk of Defence Minister AK Antony being the regent. It did not help that Rahul Gandhi mentioned Antony at a meeting with youth leaders in Ahmedabad as the most honest politician and not Mukherjee. It did help that both the Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax departments come under the finance ministry.

THEORY #2 Chidambaram had the tapes leaked for exactly the same reasons. Show the finance minister — and his camp — in bad light. Send a signal to 10, Janpath. Shake up power equations. Particularly creative theorists say the plot was to fell the government and cobble a Third Front with Chidambaram in the PM's chair. The home minister is certainly capable of such precisions.

THEORY #3 Anil Ambani's able man Tony Jesudasan leaked the tapes. Some say the intention was not just to fix Big Brother but his uber-able lobbyist Niira Radia: the rivalries of the second rung. Other rumours have it that Ambani Jr needed a smokescreen to hide his own wrongdoing and sliding fortunes. He is in big money trouble and needs a bailout. It would help to have Chidambaram as PM.

THEORY #4 Former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran leaked the tapes. Classic revenge tale: he lost the telecom ministry to A Raja, outmanoeuvered by Radia, her corporate clients and the powerful Kanimozhi faction in the DMK. Besides, he was piqued that Raja refused to share the spoils of the spectrum money with the K-family. In one stroke, the leak educated them all: Radia, Raja, Kanimozhi, Karunanidhi and the Congress. With Raja disgraced, Maran is now back in the family bosom, attending all public functions and meeting the K-family regularly. He has even buried the hatchet with Azhagiri and Stalin, brokered by Selvi, Karunanidhi's daughter. It's also being rumoured that restored trust always comes at a price.

THEORY #5 Airtel honcho Sunil Mittal had the tapes leaked. Maran was his man; Raja was hostile to him. The latter's policy opened up the market, brought in too many players and pooped his party. Raja may have scammed the country, but Mittal stood to lose a lot of money and business and his cosy spot in the sun. The end of Raja and all those who supped with him must seem a sweet dessert.

Tehelka

[KumaarShah 143]

WoWieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee