2G scam: Tainted telco promoters could face arrest as...
Further arrests by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) looked imminent today in connection with the multi-crore telecom scam. They could include promoters of some of the companies awarded licences in 2008.
The CBI special public prosecutor has already identified Uninor (formerly Unitech Wireless) and Etisalat DB (formerly Swan Telecom) as firms given preferential treatment in the award of licences by former communications minister A Raja. Raja was arrested on Wednesday, along with personal secretary R K Chandolia and former telecom secretary Siddhartha Behura.
But even as CBI’s investigations deepened, Communications Minister Kapil Sibal on Friday sought to widen action by turning the spotlight on lapses by department of telecom (DoT) officials under the BJP-led NDA administration. The BJP has been at the vanguard of an Opposition demand for a joint parliamentary committee to look into the scam.
Sibal announced he would refer the report of the Shivraj Patil Committee to CBI. The report named key DoT officials — including some under the NDA government — for serious procedural lapses in the allotment of licences and spectrum.
Releasing excerpts of the report at a press conference here, Sibal said: “The findings of the report say that since 2001, the internal procedures adopted by DoT were not in tune with the policies and directions of the government. The grant of UASL licences from 2003 onwards was not consistent with the decisions of the Union Cabinet in 2003 and recommendations of (sector regulator) Trai.”
The report has identified 25 instances from 2001 of deviations from laid-down policy. The Shivraj Patil panel also said the NDA government’s Cabinet in 2003 had accepted a Trai recommendation that new players be allowed only through bidding. However, this approved policy was not followed by the then government. (Click for the graph)
During Raja’s tenure as minister, the cut-off date for accepting new applications was advanced arbitrarily. The report says this decision “is not traceable to the powers vested in terms of any procedure laid out or satisfies the requirements of law, in particular, the principles of objectivity, fairness and transparency.”
It also pointed out that the first-come-first-served policy was not followed for the allotment of new licences and that the date on which the letter of intent was issued rather than the date of application was considered for new licences.
“This was not in tune with the policy,” the report added.
The Shivraj Patil Committee report says DoT’s decision to charge new operators the same licence fee paid by operators in 2001 “had financial bearing and was taken without the consultation of the finance ministry”.
The report makes similar observations that those expressed by CBI in its plea before the court. CBI had stated that DoT officials had selectively leaked the date when letters of intent would be issued to companies like Uninor and Etisalat DB and an arbitrary condition had been imposed that whosever deposits the fees first would be granted a licence.
Shares of Unitech fell by 7.11 per cent on the BSE today, while those of DB Realty slumped 10.04%.
Probe report hits DB Realty stock
DB Realty slumped 10 per cent at Rs 139.85 on the BSE, on reports that CBI is looking into the transfer of over Rs 200 crore by the company to Kalaignar TV in 2009-10. The matter came to light in the course of investigations into the 2G scam. The stock opened at Rs 155.45 and hit an historic low of Rs 137.55 on the BSE. On the NSE, the stock hit a low of Rs 137.30 before ending the day at Rs 139.75.
