Swan Telecom, which has been accused of involvement in the 2G spectrum scam, told the trial court on Thursday that the former Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) chairman should be treated as a co-conspirator in the 2G case. Without naming him, Swan’s counsel said the Trai chairman had recommended the 2001 pricing for 2007. Nripendra Misra was the Trai chairman between March 2006 and 2009.
“CBI (Central Bureau of Investigations) arguments are absurd,”said Amit Desai, Swan Telecom’s counsel before the special CBI Judge O P Saini. Swan Telecom did not have anything to do with the policy decisions that were made, he said.
CBI has alleged that Swan was ineligible to get the 2G licence. “The blame is that ineligible entrants were given licence below the market rate. Who is questioning? Government is not questioning,” Desai said. He said, either it is the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) or other people to whom CAG gave the advisory who are questioning (the policy and modality of allocation of the spectrum). “The government is not just concerned with revenue but also the upliftment of the society,” he added.
The company will continue to present the arguments in its defence tomorrow as well. Swan Telecom’s Managing Director Shahid Usman Balwa and director Vinod Goenka denied any involvement in the 2G scam while presenting their case in the Delhi court.
Balwa had earlier cited the report of the ministry of corporate affairs that said that Swan was not an associate of Reliance. “MCA (Ministry of Corporate Affairs) has warned the CBI that it is following a course that needs to be vetted by experts and if the agency has doubts about the MCA report, it must approach the DoT (Department of Telecommunications),” he had stated.