A Raja may face criminal charges (India)
India’s former telecoms minister, A Raja and some of his close aides are expected to be charged in reference to the 2008 telecoms license scandal. The charges which were being filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) are expected to include allegations of defrauding the exchequer and entering into a criminal conspiracy in securing the telecom licenses.
According to sources, the criminal charges will not specify the loss incurred as that is still being worked out by the regulator. Figures have ranged as wide as just a few million dollars to nearly $40 billion, depending in part on the political leanings of the commentator.
Raja is a member of the ruling DMK political party in Tamil Nadu state and the timing of the politically sensitive charges coincides with the elections in the state.
As per sources, besides those arrested in the case including Raja, his personal aide R K Chandolia, former Telecom Secretary Siddartha Behura, former Managing Director of Etislat DB (earlier Swan Telecom) Shahid Usman Balwa, the name of an MP may be mentioned in the charge sheet for being a part of the company which had received kickbacks in the alleged scam.
Foreign funds traced in 2G scam, 31 firms under scan (India)
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday submitted their progress report on 2G scam stating that 31 firms have come under the scrutiny.
The agency placed its latest status report of its investigation in the scam in a sealed envelope before a bench comprising Justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly in which it has mentioned that it is seeking the help of foreign authorities in tracking the source of money.
According to Senior Advocate, K K Venugopal, letters have been sent to Singapore, Cyprus, Jersey and Virgin Islands in connection with the 2G spectrum scam. Similar communications were being sent to two more countries.
He added that 31 companies have so far been summoned and statements of 26 companies have been recorded. Some Hawala operators were also involved in the scam and their premises were raided and they were questioned by the ED.
A bench of justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly had stated while asking the government to consider setting up of the court. They emphasised that a special court is a must if they want the objectives of the statue to be achieved. It cannot be done with existing manpower and infrastructure.
The Centre had then approached the Delhi High Court which, in consultation with the Chief Secretary of the city government, decided to set up the special court. The Centre would inform the apex court on Wednesday when the matter relating to CBI investigation comes up for hearing.
Shahid Balwa resigns from DB Group (India)
DB Group Managing Director, Shaid Balwa has resigned from the company. He was arrested on Feb 8 as part of the ongoing probe into the 2G scam by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The company, that has arms in realty, hospitality and telecoms, stated that the board had accepted his resignation.
Balwa’s DB Realty had floated Swan Telecom, which was allegedly favored by former telecoms minister, A Raja during the 2008 2G spectrum auction.
The CBI suspects that in 2008, when the government was allocating 2G spectrum for mobile phone networks, Raja might have twisted the rules to benefit a few companies – especially Swan and Unitech.
Swan and Unitech sold equity to foreign companies much before they began the launch of their services.
The DB group’s telecom arm, earlier known as Swan Telecom, is now known as Etisalat-DB.
A. Raja remanded to stay in jail until March 17 (India)
India’s former Telecoms Minister, Andimuthu Raja has been remanded to stay in jail until March 17th as investigations into the 2008 telecoms licensing scandal continue. Three other men, who were also arrested by the investigators, were also remanded to stay in jail.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Judge sent Shahid Usman Balwa, the owner of DB Realty – a minority shareholder in the mobile network, Etisalat DB, R.K. Chandolia, former personal secretary to Raja, and Siddarth Behura, former telecom secretary, to an additional 14 days judicial custody after their earlier remand order expired.
Raja, Behura and Chandolia were arrested on 2nd February, while Balwa was arrested on the 8th February.
The CBI has been investigating the total loss to the government made by the huge number of telecom licenses granted in 2008. The loss is estimated to be nearly US$5 billion.
Top businessmen questioned over Indian telecoms scandal
The Central Bureau of Investigation has confirmed that Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group CEO Anil Ambani, the fourth richest Indian, and Essar group CEO, Prashant Ruia were both questioned.
The questioning was part of the ongoing investigation that has already pulled in several politicians and paralyzed the national Parliament.
According to sources, Ruia was questioned about the alleged association of Essar with Loop Telecom – which has been the cause of much speculation over the past couple of years as to whether the company might use it to set up their own phone network in competition to its partnership with Vodafone.
It’s been estimated that the government could have lost up to US$38 billion from the way the licenses were just handed out on a first-come, first-served basis rather than being auctioned off to bidders as would have been the norm in most countries.
Last Friday though, the investigation expanded outside the telecoms industry as CBI officials raided the offices of Kalaignar TV, which is owned by politicians allied with the government coalition. Investigators are looking into whether kickbacks in the scandal were routed through the television company.
India’s top court to supervise telecoms scam probe
Supreme Court of India will supervise investigation into a major telecom scandal that cost the country billions and paralyzed parliament’s proceedings for nearly four weeks.
According to Prashant Bhushan, an Attorney, Justices G. S. Singhvi and A. K. Ganguly will monitor the progress in the probe by India’s federal investigating agency.
The scandal forced the resignation of ex-Telecoms Minister Andimuthu Raja. In the past week, the Central Bureau of Investigation has carried out raids and searches at the offices of several companies and homes of nearly a dozen suspects, including politicians, retired government officials and lobbyists for the Indian industry.
Sibal to review selection of BSNL, MTNL chiefs
If sources are to be believed, the new telecoms minister Kapil Sibal is set to review the appointments to the posts of the chairman and managing directors of both state-owned telecom companies BSNL and MTNL.
The appointments have been under the scanner after the employee unions of the PSUs had alleged that former telecoms minister A Raja’s assistant RK Chandolia had arbitrarily change eligibility norms to ensure that Telecommunications Consultants India (TCIL) chairman and managing director RK Upadhyay became BSNL chief and Kuldip Singh MTNL chief.
Mr Chandolia is also under probe from both the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate for his alleged role in the 2G spectrum scam, which forced Mr Raja to resign as telecoms minister.
Executives tracking the developments said that following Mr Raja’s exit, the telecoms ministry under Sibal had frozen both Mr Upadhyay as well as Mr Singh’s appointments, subject to a review process.
The selection process was in violation of the recommendations of the prime minister appointed Sam Pitroda committee, which said the telecoms ministry must not interfere in day-to-day working of PSU and added that the telco must have separate posts of chairman and managing director.
As per the union, the PSU’s employee unions also allege that while over 170 executives had applied for the post of BSNL chief, the duo of Mr Raja and Mr Chandolia ensured that only 12 people were called for an interview and that too on a Sunday, when the head of the selection panel, the cabinet secretary, was not present. The next day, on October 4, five shortlisted candidates were taken to the cabinet and Mr RK Upadhyay and Mr Kuldip Singh were selected for the posts of BSNL and MTNL respectively.
