In a development that could spell more trouble for embattled former union telecom minister A Raja, the Income Tax (I-T) department has begun probe into charges of alleged bribing and possession of disproportionate assets against some of the new operators who were awarded licences under the 2G spectrum deal and some telecom ministry officials.
The department has also begun an investigation into the tax returns of telecom operators who were granted 2G licences to ascertain their registered profits and find discrepancies, if any, according to official sources.
The department, according to sources, will specifically look into the angle of tax evasion in the entire process of allotment of the 2G spectrum through under-stating profits and escalating losses to allegedly facilitate bribes and kickbacks.
The department is using its intelligence wing to gather financial information on all the stakeholders and individuals who were part of the spectrum allocation deal that has been marred by controversies, including on the role of Raja.
The Comptroller and Auditor General has reportedly put the revenue loss to exchequer at Rs 1.4 lakh crore in addition to another Rs 36,700 crore on allocation of spectrum beyond contractual limit to existing nine operators.
In 2008, the Department of Telecom (DoT) had issued 2G spectrum to eight new operators at Rs 1,658 crore for pan-India operations. DoT has asserted that there was no loss to the exchequer due to distribution of new licences in 2008.
The CAG report is also understood to have castigated Raja for ignoring the advice of finance and law ministries on allocation of 2G spectrum licenses to benefit a few operators. On his part, Raja asserted had that he had not done anything wrong and had only followed the policies pursued by his predecessors.
The companies that were allotted spectrum include Unitech Wireless Ltd (rebranded as Uninor), Loop Telecom, S Tel, Datacom Services (now known as Videocon Mobile) and DB Group-promoted Swan Telecom (now Etisalat DB Telecom).
The telecom ministry has earlier told the Supreme Court that the government auditor CAG did not have the authority to question the policy decision according to which licence were issued to new players in 2008.
