The Department of Telecom (DoT) has been under the close watch of leading investigative agencies, even before the biggest telecom scam broke out under A Raja.
At least three senior officials, who were part of the system through the build-up to the 2G spectrum scam, told Business Standard, DoT was under the scanner and several top-notch representatives of the ministry were informally cautioned about the vigil. Did the agencies get the whiff of a scam that early?
To that, a government official said, telecom is among those ministries that undergo preventive vigilance. “But these were different times with different requirements perhaps,” he said referring to DoT and its commercial deals bearing the brunt of the coalition politics. “It was almost like palace intrigue being played out,” another official said talking about the ministry being run from Delhi with its remote control in Chennai, the DMK headquarters.
So, the surveillance mechanism was stepped up as early as 2006, to keep an eye on the telecom ministry, its affiliate organisations like Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL), and the modus operandi of officials in dealing with policy and commercial matters, recalled a former DoT man. Apart from the investigative agencies, audit body, Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), kept an eagle eye on every deal and policy decisions. “A CAG auditor was stationed like a big brother at Sanchar Bhavan that houses both DoT and BSNL,” he said.
All this could not prevent the mega scam, whose estimated monetary value has turned into a bone of contention, the top bureaucracy as well as investigative, vigilance and audit bodies issued warnings and cautionary advice to several officials of DoT and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) time and again.
While the tip-off by investigative agencies drastically changed the working pattern of some top officials, others continued on their chosen track dismissing the note of caution. Those who mended ways and kept themselves insulated from any threat of corruption charges hitting them, remained in the safety net. Many others, who did not pay heed to the warnings, had to pay for it, said a source who did not want to be named.
A CBI official told this newspaper that he could not recall any formal investigation into DoT way back in 2006. However, a retired official of the agency, who was in service till 2008, said, “we were keeping an eye.” He did not elaborate further.
The formal investigation into the 2G scam started in 2008, and an FIR in the case was lodged in 2009. Besides CBI, Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) and Intelligence Bureau (IB) have also played a critical role in the overall surveillance before and through the scam duration.
Another official, familiar with the 2G developments, said he knew that things were not right, but could have never guessed the enormity of the scandal. He is among the officials tipped off by investigative agencies that DoT was under watch, and he turned ever more cautious.
But there were others, not quite of the same mindset. For instance, Siddharth Behura, one of the accused in the 2G case, had brushed aside a Trai suggestion that the regulator should be consulted before issuing a telecom licence. “There is no need to engage with Trai on this matter,” he had said, according to documents available with the courts. Behura was earlier additional secretary in the environment ministry when Raja was the minister there. He became the telecom secretary once Raja took charge.
R K Chandolia, personal secretary to Raja, also shifted ministries with the DMK minister. He’s in jail too for the 2G scam. Officials pointed out that he too knew that there were watchful eyes over DoT. But, as an official during Raja’s regime told CBI, “the instructions of the personal secretary to the minister were taken as instructions of the minister himself.”
Two ministers from DMK, a key component of the UPA regime, kept telecom in news, mostly for the wrong reasons, for almost seven years. Raja, who was telecom minister from 2007 to 2010, is in jail for 10 months now, as a prime accused. His predecessor, Dayanidhi Maran, who was telecom minister and later textile minister, had to resign earlier this year over allegations of his role in the Aircel-Maxis deal. The CBI filed an FIR against Maran about two months ago.
