The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) late on Saturday night released part of the inquiry reports which had indicted its former chairman, G Madhavan Nair, and three other scientists.
The probe had been done by a five-member body chaired by former Central Vigilance Commissiner Pratyush Sinha. It was appointed in May last yeat by Isro and probed how the controversial Antrix-Devas deal was struck during the time Nair heading the country’s space research and eploration body.
The Sinha report says, "There have been not only serious administrative and procedural lapses but also suggestions of collusive behaviour on the part of certain individuals and, accordingly, responsibilities have to be fixed for taking action under relevant service rules."
The report had recommended that action be taken against Nair, A Bhaskaranarayana, K R Sridhara Murthi and K N Shankara, all now retired.
Nair today said the report had "inconsistencies and inaccuracies" and attacked the department of space, headed by his successor, K Radhakrishnan, for "cowardice" in releasing only "convenient portions". "They have picked up convenient portions and put them in public domain. This is totally unfair. When you publish a report, it should be in totality," Nair said a day after the department released two key reports based on which he and the three others had been barred from holding any government position in future.
Only nine pages of the sixth chapter of the Sinha report have been released, although the report of an earlier inquiry by B K Chaturvedi and Roddam Narasimha have been made public. The released portion concludes that individuals associated with the deal showed "collusive behaviour" in pushing the agreement that was signed in January 2005.
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It said choosing Devas "seems to be lacking in transparency and due diligence". And, that the authorities were misled on fair competition for bandwidth, claiming competitive expressions of interest from service providers had been received for the commercial satellite application that Devas was preferentially allotted. "This appears to be deliberate, as the existence of the agreement was not disclosed even when seeking approval later of the Space Commission for the GSAT-6A (or second) satellite," the report says
Devas Multimedia India Pvt Ltd was formed just a month before the agreement was signed in January 2005, by a few individuals who had held senior positions in Isro.It had 17 shareholders and its managing director, M G Chandrasekhar, had been Isro’s scientific secretary in the early 1990s.
The report said, "The approval process (for the deal) was riddled with incomplete and inaccurate information given to the Union Cabinet and the Space Commission". While the Antrix-Devas agreement was signed on January, 28, 2005, "this fact was not disclosed to the Space Commission or in the Cabinet note dated November 27, 2005, in which approval was sought for the launch of GSAT-6, one of the satellites to be builtr under the agreement".
Details such as a follow-on satellite for Devas remained hidden from higher bodies such as the Space Commission. Both the reports of 2011 find lapses in the agreement that "was heavily loaded in favour of Devas".
Adding: "There is an attempt at obfuscation by key players, as they have remained silent on issues like the arbitrary selection, lack of proper financial and technical evaluation, undue favours at government cost to Devas, lack of transparency and finally exposing Antrix and the government to unwarranted commercial risks."