2G Scam: Supreme Court Quashes 122 Licences issued in 2008

[Karthik R 246]

Who all are in jail?

Twelve people, including former Tamil Nadu chief minister M. Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi and Kalaignar TV Managing Director Sharad Kumar, were in New Delhi's Tihar jail as of Friday evening, while one accused is in judicial custody in a hospital here and another has been exempt from personal appearance on grounds of ill-health.

The first one to be arrested was DMK leader and former communications minister A. Raja. After that, the CBI arrested Raja's aide R.K. Chandolia, former telecom secretary Siddhartha Behura and Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa and his cousin Asif Balwa.

The corporate leaders arrested are Vinod Goenka of Swan Telecom, Sanjay Chandra of Unitech, three officials of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group - Gautam Doshi, Hari Nair and Surendra Pipara, who is in the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) - and Rajiv B. Agarwal of Kusegaon Realty.

Joining the 12 Friday were Kanimozhi and Sharad Kumar of Kalaignar TV that is owned by the DMK.

Cineyug Film's Karim Morani is the only one who has been exempted from personal appearance due to ill health.

[Karthik R 246]

Kanimozhi's first night in Tihar jail

DMK Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi's first night in Tihar jail was a sharp contrast to the hustle-bustle and media frenzy that she had been exposed to ever since her name surfaced in the 2G spectrum scam.

Inside her independent jail cell devoid of an AC or even a cooler, she ate home-cooked food that she had got with herself and slept at 11.30 pm.

On Saturday morning, she got up at 5.30 am and this time, there was no home-cooked food but jail breakfast for her. She had two slices of bread with aaloo sabzi and left for the court at 9:30 am.

Kanimozhi, who is the daughter of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, is lodged in jail number 6 (women's cell) and ward number 8 in Tihar Jail. Her new neighbours include Madhuri Gupta - a former Indian diplomat charged with spying for Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Sharda Jain, a murder accused.

via : NDTV

[KanagaDeepan 1,084]

Please change the topic heading... Further Raja is in Men's cell and she is in women's cell...

[sgiitk 32]

DMK => Delhi Money for Karunanidhi.

[rajanmehta 4,056]

It seems Kanimozhi will have to get adjusted to Tihar Jail for a longer time as the Delhi High Court has rejected bail pleas of all accused in 2G Scam today...

Her proposed bail application before the same court should meet the same fate on the issue of parity..

2G scam: Court rejects bail pleas of top telecom honchos

NDTV May 23, 2011 14:34 IST

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has rejected the bail application of Sanjay Chandra, MD, Unitech Ltd and Unitech Wireless, Vinod Goenka, MD, DB Realty and Swan Telecom (now Etisalat), Gautam Doshi, Group MD, Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) and Hari Nair and Surendra Pipara, Senior Vice Presidents, ADAG.

These five men, named in the first Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) chargesheet in the 2G scam case, were arrested on April 20 - and held in custody in Tihar jail.

[raccoon 53]

She should think positively and use the time to compose more poetry... with the condition that she does not inflict it on other hapless inmates.

[sgiitk 32]

Now Sonia shows sympathy for Kani since she is a woman. So all female under-trials should demand release on bail. Then Gender Equality will have all males also demanding the same - so Raja, Kalmadi, and co. can all get out.

As very rightly put by Mr Padgaonkar on TV yesterday, one should not forget that in his earlier avatar - Karunanidhi was a champion script writer. So expect all the melodrama to unfold in the next few days.

[rajanmehta 4,056]

This is really funny... A Die Hard Apple Loyalist... Can't do without iPad in Jail too...

2G case: Delhi HC denies iPad to Asif Balwa

Source

The city government and Tihar Jail authorities today told the Delhi High court that Asif Balwa , an accused in the 2G spectrum case, cannot be allowed to use I Pad in jail.

"It is not possible to ensure that I-Pad may not be used as a communication device. Removal of some features from it does not ensure that other large number of applications available are rendered unusable," Delhi government told Justice S Muralidhar.

The court after going through the detail note submitted by jail authorities, however, allowed Asif to suggest an alternative device through which no communication is possible.

"The petitioner (Asif) will suggest alternative device whcih can be used only for reading files. The officers of Tihar Jail will again examine the alternative device," the court said.

Vijay Agarwal , counsel for Asif, also sought the court's permission to be allowed to suggest an alternative device.

"I am not in love with I-Pad. They can provide me a dead laptop," Agarwal said.

Meanwhile, the counsel for Delhi government also sought directions to make the CBI a party to the case.

The court issued notice to the CBI to make it a party in the case.

The court had earlier asked the jail authorities and the city government to examine the I Pad, to be used by an accused for reading digitalised case files in prison, to ascertain if the equipment can be misused for communication.

It had also asked the accused's counsel to deposit the I Pad with the jail officials who would get it checked by the IT department of Delhi government as to whether it can be misused for communication or not.

The court's response came after Delhi government said that Balwa, Director of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables, cannot be allowed to use the I Pad as it is not permitted by the jail manual.

The government counsel had said security personnel are not equipped to detect any tampering with the gadget.

The corporate executive has been arrested for his alleged role in facilitating the transfer of a sum of Rs 200 crore to DMK's party-owned television channel Kalaignar TV through his firm in a "circuitous manner".

He is lodged at Tihar Jail along other 12 accused persons including former Telecom Minister A Raja , DMK MP Kanimozhi, Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Balwa .

[Karthik R 246]

CAG explains India's biggest scam to JPC

Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai on Monday appeared before the Joint Parliamentary Committee, which is probing the 2G spectrum scam, to explain how the government auditor quantified the losses in the spectrum allocation at Rs 1.76 lakh crore.

Rai was asked to brief the Committee, chaired by Congress leader P C Chacko, on the allocation and pricing of telecom licences and spectrum during 1998 to 2009. The CAG, in a report to Parliament last year, had pegged the presumptive loss to the exchequer on 2G spectrum allocation at Rs 1.76 lakh crore.

The findings triggered a political storm and subsequent events led to the resignation of the then telecom minister A Raja.

"Today the talk is of a Rs 1.76 lakh crore scam. We want to know from the horse's mouth how he had arrived at the figure," Chacko said after the last meeting of the committee on May 18.

Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal had dubbed "utterly erroneous and without any basis" the estimated loss of Rs. 1.76 lakh crore arrived at by the CAG on account of 2G spectrum allocation.

According to the Central Bureau of Investigation's charge-sheet in the 2G spectrum allocation case, the loss to the exchequer is pegged at Rs 30,984 crore.

Earlier this year, Rai had made a similar presentation before the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament on how he arrived at the figure. The PAC will examine the CAG's reports and table its findings in Parliament.

Via : Rediff

[KanagaDeepan 1,084]

This is really funny... A Die Hard Apple Loyalist... Can't do without iPad in Jail too...

Jailor should give him iPod_Shuffle instead of water, iPodTouch instead of food and iPad instead of dress...

[Karthik R 246]

2G accused Balwa wants to depose before JPC

New Delhi: In a new twist which could have repercussions on the UPA, 2G accused Swan telecom promoter Shahid Balwa has written to the Joint Parliamentary Committee saying that he should be called to depose before Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC).

"In the interest of the investigation, I should be called to depose before the JPC," Balwa wrote in a letter to the JPC on Tuesday.

Balwa, in fact, is the first 2G accused who wants to depose before the JPC. Balwa's testimony could become a headache for the UPA as it could put some of its leaders in the dock.

Who is Shahid Balwa?

Shahid Balwa is the director of DB Realty. DB Realty had floated Swan Telecom, which was a beneficiary of 2G spectrum allocation. Swan Telecom had won 13 of the 22 2G licences across India. Balwa is known to be close to former telecom minister A Raja.

Via : ibnlive

[Karthik R 246]

CBI court turns down pleas against Tata, Ambani

A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Thursday rejected a plea seeking a probe against Reliance ADA Group Chairman Anil Ambani and the Tata group related to the 2008 sale of mobile phone licences.

Judge OP Saini dismissed the applications filed by public interest litigators to investigate Ambani, Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata, Niira Radia, a public relations executive, and a state politician. The litigators were fined for filing “frivolous” petitions.

The court decision came after CBI said the cut-off date for 2G licences did not apply to existing operators such as Tata Teleservices and Reliance Communications.

“He (the petitioner) is misconceived in what he is saying. Tata was an existing licensee and not a new operator. The cut-off date (criteria) was not applicable in case of Tata and even Reliance as they were not new operators,” CBI said in response to an application by a Ghaziabad-based scrap dealer.

CBI said it had made everything clear in the two charge sheets filed in the case and had nothing more to say as the investigation was on.

The scrap dealer alleged that Tata Teleservices was granted licences despite the fact that it applied after the cut-off date. “Tata Tele has been granted licence in violation of policy and procedure. Ratan Tata has also not been properly investigated,” said his lawyer.

Separately, the court dismissed pleas for a direction to CBI to make Reliance ADAG Chairman Anil Ambani, Tata group Chief Ratan Tata, corporate lobbyist Niira Radia and DMK chief M Karunanidhi's wife, Dayalu Ammal, accused in the scam.

The special court is hearing charges that Raja “entered into a conspiracy” with government and private company officials to award phone permits to ineligible companies.

Tony Jesudasan, a spokesman for the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, declined to comment when contacted by phone. Rajeev Narayan, a spokesman for Tata Teleservices, declined to comment in an email.

Via : Business Standard

[Karthik R 246]

2G scam: Maran bent rules to give his friend licence

Even as Dayanidhi Maran denies allegations of favouring any company when he was telecom minister in 2004-07, more evidence has surfaced that points to the contrary.

Hindustan Times is in possession of documents that show that Maran scrapped the rules he used to block telecom licences to enterpreuner C Sivasankaran, the Indian promoter of Aircel, till he sold the company to Maxis. Maxis is owned by Malaysia-based billionaire Ananda Krishnan, who has a decade-old business relationship with Sun TV, promoted by the Maran family. As soon as Sivasankaran exited, Maran changed the rules and helped Aircel get licences.

First reported by HT on February 14, Astro, a group company of Maxis, got the nod of the cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA) to invest Rs 675 crore in Sun TV. This was within four months of Dishnet Wireless (now merged into Aircel) being issued licences. The approval came on February 22, 2007, when Maran was minister for communications and IT.

Maran on Wednesday denied he was minister in the cabinet when Astro finally invested in Sun Direct in December 2007, though it is the CCEA approval that’s the most critical step in a transborder investment like this.

Dishnet applied for licences in April 2004 (in two circles) and in March 2005 (in five circles). The licences weren’t issued so long as the company was owned by Sivasankaran.

One of the reasons for the delay was that Maran got department of telecommunications (DoT) officials to seek a series of clarifications through showcause notices from the firm.

A March 30, 2005 note on grant of licences to Dishnet, signed by the telecom secretary, said: “Discussed with MOC&IT (minister). These files are returned with the direction that the director should ascertain all showcause notices/ advisory letters issued to the above company or companies belonging to the group and the nature of default before any view is taken.”

In other words, until Dishnet satisfied DoT officials about the notices, it would not be given a licence.

This, according to Justice Shivraj V Patil --- the one-man committee looking into the procedures of allotting 2G spectrum --- in his January 31 report, “was not warranted in terms of the laid down procedure”.

Once Sivasankaran exited the company in March 2006, Maran did an about turn and changed the rules --- in less than two months.

In a note that he signed on May 16, 2006, Maran said: "…it was felt that processing of application for grant of new licences should be de-linked from show cause notices or explanation call for or any other advisory issued to that company or any other sister/group company in respect of any other licences.”

In other words, Dishnet could now get the licences. Maran did not reply to emails sent to him on this story. He also did not answer SMS messages sent to him.

"The practice followed then for grant of UASL licence to any applicant was that the applicant company had to satisfy all prescribed conditions in respect of networth, funding pattern, business plan, debt-equity ratio etc,” Maran said in a press statement on Wednesday.

"The applicant company should also not have a history of default in payment/violation of licence conditions in any service area.” This, too, according to Patil committee report “was not warranted”.

Via : Hindustantimes

[sougatadc 358]

This is the first occasion that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has said on record that Tata Telecom did not benefit in any way from the 2G Spectrum licence scam that rocked the

Congress-led government. The CBI told in the court that Tata Telecom didn't get benefit in the Rs 1.76 lakh crore scandal.

“There was no illegality in the granting of the 2G

licences to the Tatas,” the CBI said in its

submission to the New Delhi court. “The real

beneficiaries are the new people who got new

licences,” the submission said.

[rajanmehta 4,056]

Kanimozhi, Sharad Kumar to remain in jail as Delhi high court rejects bail pleas

Source

DMK MP Kanimozhi and Kalaignar TV MD Sharad Kumar will remain confined to Tihar Jail as the Delhi high court today dismissed their bail pleas in the 2G case, saying they have strong political connections and the possibility of them influencing witnesses cannot be ruled out.

"They have got strong political connections. Kanimozhi belongs to the same political party to which accused A Raja belongs and it is sharing power in the Central government.

"Thus, considering their financial and political clout, a possibility cannot be ruled out that if they are freed at this stage, they would interfere with investigation or try to influence the witnesses. Thus, at this stage, I do not deem it appropriate to admit the petitioners on bail," Justice Ajit Bharihoke said in his 37-page order.

The 43-year-old daughter of DMK supremo M Karunanidhi and Sharad Kumar, named as accused in the second charge sheet for allegedly taking bribe of Rs200 crore, were arrested on May 20 after the special court dismissed their bail pleas in the case.

The court noted the CBI allegations that Kanimozhi and Sharad Kumar received illegal gratifications in the DMK-run TV channel from co-accused and Swan Telecom promoters, Shahid Usman Balwa and Vinod Goenka, from the account of DB Realty group companies as "reward for undue favours" shown by former telecom minister A Raja in allocation of 2G licences.

"Kanimozhi and Sharad accepted and received an illegal gratification of Rs200 crores in Kalaignar TV from the co-accused Shahid Balwa and Vinod Goenka in the year 2008-09 as a reward for undue favours shown by accused A Raja in connivance of other public servants to Swan Telecom in the matter of allocation of valuable scarce spectrum," it said.

[sgiitk 32]

Soon Raja & Kani may have company - Dayanidhi Maran. However, given the current mindset there may be a royal (endorsed by the President) order releasing the whole lot.

----- Typo

Edited June 9, 2011 by sgiitk

[Karthik R 246]

Raja names PM, Chidambaram, says 'I should be rewarded'

New Delhi: A Raja spent all day today presenting his side of the telecom story that landed him in Tihar Jail. Mr Raja brought the Prime Minister and P Chidambaram into his line of defence. He also said that he deserves to be rewarded for following the rules.

Mr Raja was arrested in February for granting mobile network licences and second-generation (2G) spectrum at throwaway prices to companies who were not eligible. Two of those companies - Unitech Wireless and Swan Telecom - were able to leverage their licences to attract huge investment from foreign partners. Telenor jumped into bed with Unitech, and Etisalat tied up with Swan. "Where is the crime? Where is the conspiracy?" asked Mr Raja today. "Telenor buying a stake in Unitech Wireless and Etisalat buying a stake in DB Realty was totally legal as per the corporate law. The Finance Minister approved the sale in the presence of the PM. Let the Prime Minister deny it." He added, "What the telecom companies do after I give them spectrum is not my domain."

The legality of the deals has not been challenged by the CBI, which is investigating the scam - a fact reinforced by Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal today. He said that Unitech and Swan were entitled to create an infusion of equity and that profiting from this deal was not illegal. Mr Sibal also said that Mr Raja's claim that the PM was aware of both deals is correct. He stressed that neither company sold the actual licence. And that both companies were being investigated for favouritism and not equity infusion.

The government and the PM have said in the past that it's not the policy but Mr Raja's twisted implementation that saw companies like Unitech and Swan allegedly jumping to the head of the queue to get licences out of turn.

The fact that the companies were able to make several thousand crores on the basis of their licences has been used as an indicator of how much money the government lost by giving away those same licences so cheaply. For example, Unitech Wireless and Swan bought their licenses for about 1600 crores. Within months, Telenor paid 6000 crores for about 70 per cent equity. Swan was paid about 4500 crores by Etisalat for 45 per cent equity.

Mr Raja clarified in court that both Indian firms - who were real estate players - diluted equity by issuing new shares to their foreign partners. Mr Chidambaram, who was then Finance Minister, made the same point later. He said that after seeing media reports on the sale of spectrum, the Prime Minister asked Mr Chidambaram to look into the matter. Mr Chidambaram said he then asked Mr Raja whether the foreign investment was added through a dilution of shares or divestment. Mr Raja assured him that it was not spectrum that was being sold to the foreign companies.

Mr Raja has been questioned about why he decided against auctioning spectrum instead of awarding licences on a first-come-first-serve basis. "If the policy pursued by me was wrong, then all former Telecom Ministers since 1993 should also be jail with me," said Mr Raja. "If I had auctioned spectrum, that would have been a crime, as it was a Union Cabinet decision," he said. The government and the PM have said in the past that it's not the policy but Mr Raja's twisted implementation that saw companies like Unitech and DB Realty allegedly jumping to the head of the queue to get licences out of turn.

Like his party, the DMK, Mr Raja has stressed that he followed the policies introduced by his predecessors in the NDA government that was in power till 2004, when the UPA coalition was elected. Mr Raja said, "As Telecom Minster Arun Shourie distributed 26 licences while Dayanidhi Maran distributed 25 and I (Raja) distributed 122 licences. Numbers make no difference, however, it is to be noted that none of them auctioned the spectrum. If they had done no wrong, why am I being questioned? Let them deny that they have not done what I did. I was just following the 2003 Cabinet decision that is not to auction 2G spectrum. If I am following the law, I am not liable to be prosecuted. In fact, I should be rewarded."

CHIDAMBARAM ON SWAN, UNITECH

Mr Chidambaram told PTI that there was no sale of spectrum by Unitech and Swan Telecom to foreign partners; instead, they were issued fresh shares by promoters. And that this was discussed in the presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. (Read: Shares divested or diluted was the only issue discussed, says Chidambaram)

If an investor buys existing shares off the owner of a company, the money goes directly to the owner. If fresh shares are issued for the investor, the money is pumped into the company. But in this case too, the owner of the company benefits because the value of the company shoots up, in turn increasing the value of the shares held by the owner.

BJP DEMANDS RESIGNATIONS OF PM, CHIDAMBARAM

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today demanded the resignations of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and then finance minister P. Chidambaram after allegations by former communications minister A Raja that both knew about transactions in the 2G spectrum allocation. (Read: BJP targeting ministers to retaliate for right-wing terror probe, says Chidambaram)

"Today, Raja has made it clear in the court that all the transactions in the 2G case were cleared after permission was given by prime minister and Chidambaram," BJP president Nitin Gadkari told reporters in New Delhi.

"Sonia Gandhi (Congress chief) always claims that action will be taken against those found corrupt... then why silence on this matter? I want to ask Sonia Gandhi whether Raja's confession in the court is direct evidence of the prime minister and Chidambaram's involvement (in the scam).

"I demand their resignation as they (prime minister and Chidamabaram) have no right (to continue)," he said.

Via : NDTV

[Karthik R 246]

CBI wants to add stringent charges against Raja, other accused in 2G case

NEW DELHI: Spelling fresh trouble for jailed ex-telecom minister A Raja and other accused in the 2G case, the Central Bureau of Investigation sought to file new charges of breach of trust and criminal conspiracy against them that can result in a sentence of life imprisonment.

The agency on Monday moved a special court to add the charges against Raja, his former personal secretary R K Chandolia and former telecom secretary Sidharth Behura. All three are in jail. Until now, the maximum punishment these public servants could have received in the 2G scam in the light of charges they faced was seven years.

CBI also wants to file similar charges against 14 other accused, who are not public servants. The move, coming as it does in the wake of submissions by law and corporate affairs ministries and the telecom regulator that appear to weaken the prosecution, indicates there is no slackening in the agency's resolve.

The counsel for the accused alleged the CBI's move is aimed at delaying bail for those in jail and this can add to the frustration of key Congress ally DMK as Kanimozhi, daughter of party chief M Karunanidhi, is in jail along with Raja.

CBI's hunt for tougher provisions shows that it is not deterred by arguments put up by the accused like Raja that top government functionaries like home minister P Chidambaram - finance minister in 2007-08 - approved of his decision to sell 2G airwaves at 2001 prices and that this was endorsed by Prime MinisterManmohan Singh.

While the government has said that pricing of spectrum was a policy decision, the failure to consider auctions or a revision of the 2001 rates is central to the CBI's case. The agency has accused Raja and Co of deliberately not considering options to gauge the market prices of spectrum and selling precious national resources cheap.

The CBI has been boosted by the Supreme Court's recent remarks that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India report supporting "zero loss" claims in the sale of spectrum as "highly debateable". The agency has been troubled by government agencies offering opinions that tend to benefit 2G scam accused.

Moving an application before special CBI judge O P Saini, the agency said, "The accused Raja, Behura and Chandolia were public servants having a dominion over valuable 2G spectrum in their respective capacities as public servants." CBI added they flouted the law in award of licences that amounted to a case of criminal breach of trust.

The agency said there is evidence "on record" to "certainly" make out the charges in addition to offences stated in the chargesheet. The other 14 accused, including Kanimozhi and Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Balwa, will be also be charged for being in cahoots with Raja and the two public servants. It would also make others liable to face the same jail term if held guilty.

Earlier, the accused were booked under Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating), 468 (forgery) and 471 (using forged documents as genuine) of the IPC besides other sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act carrying a maximum term of seven years.

Elaborating the role of the accused, the agency said, "The accused public servants in pursuance of conspiracy with other accused dishonestly disposed off the valuable 2G spectrum illegally and in violation of the existing policies and the eligibility criterion in order to confer wrongful gain on accused no. 4 (Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa), 5 (Vinod Goenka), 6 (Swan Telecom), 7 (MD of Unitech Sanjay Chandra) and 8 (Unitech Wireless Tamil Nadu Ltd)."

Defence lawyers opposed the application saying CBI wants to delay judicial proceedings with the sole motive of keeping the accused behind the bars. "We are not on bail. We are in jail and are co-operating with the probe but the prosecution (CBI) is bringing new materials and points daily. This is not justified at all on the part of prosecution," Raja said.

"They just want to delay the proceedings of framing of charges against the accused," one of the defence lawyers said. The court, which took the CBI's plea on record, asked the accused to file their responses by September 30.

Meanwhile, Raja again sought calling Chidambaram as a witness to prove the minutes of a Cabinet meeting that cleared the offloading of shares by Swan Telecom and Unitech to two foreign firms though he clarified that his plea was not to make Chidambaram as an accused.

"In the meeting, the then finance minister had clarified that dilution of shares to attract foreign investment does not amount to sale of equity. Chidambaram is a party to it and I am not calling him as an accused. CBI should have recorded his statement and the next step should be the Prime Minister. CBI should examine Chidambaram not as an accused but as a witness," Raja's counsel Sushil Kumar submitted before the court.

Arguing on the reports of the law ministry and TRAI, Raja denied the CBI's allegations that Swan Telecom (now Etisalat DB) and Unitech Wireless (Tamil Nadu) Pvt Ltd, alleged beneficiaries of the 2G scam, illegally secured "huge windfall profit" by offloading their equities to UAE-based Etisalat and Norway-based Telenor respectively after getting the Unified Access Services Licenses.

The recent examination of Jaswant Singh, who headed the finance ministry in the NDA regime, by CBI was also cited by Raja's counsel to allege that the probe was still on and there was no obligation to auction the spectrum. He accused CBI of "threatening the witness (expert committee of TRAI) that gave us (CBI) a favourable report saying otherwise we (CBI) will not accept it."

"This (TRAI report) is a solicited report and it completely destroys CBI's case," Kumar said. He also accused CBI of withholding documents saying it has 1.35 lakh pages but has placed only 80,000 pages on record.

Source : Times Of India

[Rahul Always 87]

Why is the CBI silent so far on the role of Mr Chidambaram? Or is someone (very very powerful) behind the scenes pulling strings? I would love to see what happens if the court allows Mr Chidambaram to be made a witness on the behest of A Raja!

[KanagaDeepan 1,084]

^^^^^^^

Even CBI is silent on Maran case (Aircel and misuse of BSNL resources for his TV head office in Chennai), let alone PC...

[Honest 836]

2G case: Raja criticizes CBI for not filing documents

NEW DELHI: Former Telecom Minister A Raja on Tuesday accused CBI in a Delhi court of wilfully not filing on record the documents of telecom regulator TRAI in 2G spectrum allocation scam case.

"I know I am here in the country's one of the biggest scam case. I am not joking but with due respect to CBI, even a sub-inspector of Tilak Marg police station here will not write or file such a charge sheet unless or until he has something wrong in his mind," Raja told Special CBI Judge O P Saini.

The DMK leader said he did not violate norms regarding the roaming facility and this was existing even before he took over the charge as Telecom Minister.

"I did not violate norms regarding roaming facilty. CBI should prove that before I took charge as Telecom Minister, roaming facility was unknown to this country. But if I prove that roaming was already existing here and it was approved by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), then there is nothing against me," Raja, who argued himself, said.

He said his actions on roaming facilities were as per TRAI guidelines.

CBI, which referred to a letter of April 24, 2008, of the TRAI chairman in its charge sheet, did not file it on the court's record till date, he said.

"CBI is interpreting from the letter of the TRAI Chairman that I breached the norms by violating TRAI Act but is not filing it in the court. I want to accuse CBI that it is willfully not submitting full documents which will show the real interpretation of the documents," he said.

The court was hearing arguments on a Law Ministry report which said a firm should have more than 10 per cent stake in another for being its 'associate'.

Courtesy : The Economic Times

[csmart 472]

2G scam: ADAG executives may turn approver, says CBI

NEW DELHI: CBI expects the three senior Reliance ADAG executives currently in jail in connection with the 2G scam to turn approver in what can have repercussions for people other than those chargesheeted in the case.

CBI was optimistic about such a possibility in theSupreme Court on Thursday. Its counsel K K Venugopal told a bench of Justice G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly that conflicting stands taken by accused Reliance ADAG executives - Gautam Doshi, Surendra Pipara and Hari Nair - on who made decisions on the Swan deal before the trial court and the Delhi high court has raised hope that they might turn approver and help unravel the facts concerning the alleged Reliance Telecom-Swan-Delphi nexus. CBI has alleged that the jailed R-ADAG executives floated Swan Telecom as a front to garner spectrum licences.

Rel Telecom denies approver report

Meanwhile, Reliance Telecom on Thursday denied the possibility of its three executives charged in the 2G scam turning approver. A Reliance Telecom spokesperson said, "None of the three Reliance executives chargesheeted by CBI have at any stage till date expressed any desire to become approver. The distorted media reporting on this issue is a very serious matter and will be acted upon." He said neither Reliance Telecom nor the promoters were beneficiaries of any telecom licence issued in January 2008.

The executives, currently in jail in connection with the 2G scam, told the Delhi high court in their bail applications that they were mere employees, implying that they were carrying out orders, CBI told the Supreme Court on Thursday, pointing out a change in stand. The trio - Gautam Doshi, Surendra Pipara and Hari Nair - had maintained in the trial court that they acted on their own, thus absolving the higher-ups of any culpability. Their HC defence, on the other hand, is freighted with risk for their seniors.

CBI has been following the share transfer trail, which has now reached Switzerland, and feels if the accused executives turn approver and divulge who was behind the serpentine transfer of shares by Reliance Telecom from Swan to Mauritius-based Delphi, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mavi Investment Fund, it would give a new dimension to the 2G scam.

Venugopal informed the bench that after investigations in Mauritius, the agency has now taken steps for issuance of a letter rogatory to Switzerland to seek cooperation of local authorities there to probe to whom Delphi had transferred the shares it received from Reliance Telecom.

The counsel said Reliance transferred 1,07,90,000 equity shares in Swan to Delphi in 2007 for Rs 15 per share. "The total value of $76 million of the shares sold by Reliance to Delphi was grossly undervalued," Venugopal told the bench.

Agency sources said the money trail headed to Switzerland from Mauritius. It suspects that it then moved towards British Virgin Island.

On the basis of the probe status report, the bench had repeatedly observed that CBI's inquiry about the money trail abroad pertaining to different companies was still not complete.

Source: Times of India

[Karthik R 246]

CBI looks into spectrum to Telecom companies in DTH business

Widening its probe in the 2G scam, the CBI has now turned to investigate spectrum allocation made to direct-to-home (DTH) broadcasters by seeking details of sanction of bandwidth.

The decision to probe the DTH broadcasters was taken after agency sleuths found that some of the telecom companies, under probe in the 2G scam, were also broadcasters of the service, official sources said on Sunday.

The CBI had sought details including the original files containing applications for assigning of spectrum and wireless operating licence for DTH services.

The files pertained to Dish TV India Limited, Reliance Big TV Pvt Limited, Bharti Multi-media Limited, Bharti Business Channel Pvt Limited, Doordarshan, SunDirect TV Pvt Limited and Tata Sky Limited.

CBI sources said it would examine the files as some of these companies were under probe in the 2G scam which included role of former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran in Aircel-Maxis deal.

The CBI is also looking into a possible kickback received by a south India-based TV channel.

In its charge sheet, the CBI has alleged that DMK MP Kanimozhi, daughter of former Tamil Nadu chief minister M. Karunanidhi, had got Kalaignar TV in the Tata Sky bouquet in conspiracy with party colleague and former telecom minister A. Raja.

Reliance Telecommunications has already been charged with criminal conspiracy and cheating in the 2G case. Bharti and Tatas, which are in both DTH and telecom fields, have not been made accused in the 2G scam. Dish TV and Doordarshan are not into telecom business.

VIA : The Hindu

[rajanmehta 4,056]

2G Scam: Supreme Court Quashes 122 Licences >> http://timesofindia....ow/11723653.cms

In a major setback for the government, the Supreme Court on Thursday quashed all 122 spectrum licences granted after January 2008.

The apex court left it open for the trial court to decide whether home minister P Chidambaram needs to probed in the 2G scam.

[csmart 472]

Lets wait and watch what happens to Raja and Uninor.