India has been reeling under a series of corruption scandals, and one involving the licensing of telecom spectrum for 2G (second generation) services in 2008 .India's telecommunications ministry caused nearly US$40 billion in losses to the exchequer by selling the licenses at 2001 prices and by conducting the sale on a so-called first-come, first-served basis (as opposed to auctions) to benefit a few select bidders, according to an audit by India's Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).
To that victim the telecom minister Mr,raja was resigned due to involvement in that mighty corruption of 1lakhs73 crores.and he was arrested by the CBI officials with the witness of telephone talk with the broker neera radiya.... and locked up in the tigar jail.At the initial stage the government was little bit slow to take actions about this 2G Spectrum scandal,later the pressure raises to the central government from all the parts of the country.The govt iniated the CBI. to the counterpart the rajasabha mp and dmk leader's mr.karunanidi's daughter mrs.kanimozhi was also got arrested for the illegal allocation of spectrum to kalaignar tv along with the manager saradhkumar and lock uped in tigar jail..
Both raja and kanimozhi's bail plea was refused by the SC. and court ordered the CBI to finish the case as early as possible and ask them to take rapid actions
Today(25.7.2011) the raja apeared to the court and told some interesting thing that has spirited defense to him in that case.
Mr Raja has been questioned about why he decided against auctioning spectrum instead of awarding licences on a first-come-first-serve basis. "If the policy pursued by me was wrong, then all former Telecom Ministers since 1993 should also be jail with me," said Mr Raja in a Delhi court this morning. "If I had auctioned spectrum, that would have been a crime, as it was a Union Cabinet decision," he said. The government and the PM have said that it's not the policy but Mr Raja's twisted implementation that saw companies like Unitech and DB Realty allegedly jumping to the head of the queue to get licences out of turn.
Like his party, the DMK, Mr Raja has stressed that he followed the policies introduced by his predecessors in the NDA government that was in power till 2004, when the UPA coalition was elected.
Mr Raja said, "As Telecom Minster Arun Shourie distributed 26 licences while Dayanidhi Maran distributed 25 and I (Raja) distributed 122 licences. Numbers make no difference, however, it is to be noted that none of them auctioned the spectrum. If they had done no wrong, why am I being questioned? Let them deny that they have not done what I did. I was just following the 2003 Cabinet decision that is not to auction 2G spectrum. If I am following the law, I am not liable to be prosecuted. In fact, I should be rewarded."
CHIDAMBARAM ON RAJA'S ALLEGATIONS IN COURT
P Chidabmaram, who was Finance Minister when India's telecom scam played out in 2008, has responded to what former Telecom Minister A Raja said in his own defence in court today.
Mr Raja said that he could not be held responsible for the foreign partners who were roped in by two Indian companies after he awarded them mobile network licenses while he was Telecom Minister. Mr Raja said that the Prime Minister and Mr Chidambaram were aware that Unitech Wireless and Swan Telecom tied up with foreign firms Telenor and Etisalat respectively after they received 2G licenses.
Mr Chidambaram told PTI that there was no sale of spectrum by Unitech and Swan Telecom to foreign partners; instead, they were issued fresh shares by promoters. Mr Chidambaram also said that his ministry's examination of the matter was limited to whether Swan Telecom and Unitech were divesting stake or diluting shares through fresh equity.
If an investor buys existing shares off the owner of a company, the money goes directly to the owner. If fresh shares are issued for the investor, the money is pumped into the company. But in this case too, the owner of the company benefits because the value of the company shoots up, in turn increasing the value of the shares held by the owner.
The legality of the deals with Telenor and Etisalat has not been challenged by the CBI, which is investigating the scam. Experts have referred to the transactions involving them to point out the extent of the telecom scam allegedly conducted by Mr Raja. While he gave licenses to companies like Unitech Wireless and Swan at hefty bargains, they were able to attract enormous investments from foreign companies for the same licenses. This is seen as an indication of how Mr Raja cost the government thousands of crores by under-valuing the licenses he awarded as Telecom Minister.
Mr Raja has been questioned about why he decided against auctioning spectrum instead of awarding licences on a first-come-first-serve basis. "If the policy pursued by me was wrong, then all former Telecom Ministers since 1993 should also be jail with me," said Mr Raja in a Delhi court this morning. "If I had auctioned spectrum, that would have been a crime, as it was a Union Cabinet decision," he said. The government and the PM have said that it's not the policy but Mr Raja's twisted implementation that saw companies like Unitech and DB Realty allegedly jumping to the head of the queue to get licences out of turn.
Like his party, the DMK, Mr Raja has stressed that he followed the policies introduced by his predecessors in the NDA government that was in power till 2004, when the UPA coalition was elected.
Mr Raja said, "As Telecom Minster Arun Shourie distributed 26 licences while Dayanidhi Maran distributed 25 and I (Raja) distributed 122 licences. Numbers make no difference, however, it is to be noted that none of them auctioned the spectrum. If they had done no wrong, why am I being questioned? Let them deny that they have not done what I did. I was just following the 2003 Cabinet decision that is not to auction 2G spectrum. If I am following the law, I am not liable to be prosecuted. In fact, I should be rewarded."
CHIDAMBARAM ON RAJA'S ALLEGATIONS IN COURT
P Chidabmaram, who was Finance Minister when India's telecom scam played out in 2008, has responded to what former Telecom Minister A Raja said in his own defence in court today.
Mr Raja said that he could not be held responsible for the foreign partners who were roped in by two Indian companies after he awarded them mobile network licenses while he was Telecom Minister. Mr Raja said that the Prime Minister and Mr Chidambaram were aware that Unitech Wireless and Swan Telecom tied up with foreign firms Telenor and Etisalat respectively after they received 2G licenses.
Mr Chidambaram told PTI that there was no sale of spectrum by Unitech and Swan Telecom to foreign partners; instead, they were issued fresh shares by promoters. Mr Chidambaram also said that his ministry's examination of the matter was limited to whether Swan Telecom and Unitech were divesting stake or diluting shares through fresh equity.
If an investor buys existing shares off the owner of a company, the money goes directly to the owner. If fresh shares are issued for the investor, the money is pumped into the company. But in this case too, the owner of the company benefits because the value of the company shoots up, in turn increasing the value of the shares held by the owner.
The legality of the deals with Telenor and Etisalat has not been challenged by the CBI, which is investigating the scam. Experts have referred to the transactions involving them to point out the extent of the telecom scam allegedly conducted by Mr Raja. While he gave licenses to companies like Unitech Wireless and Swan at hefty bargains, they were able to attract enormous investments from foreign companies for the same licenses. This is seen as an indication of how Mr Raja cost the government thousands of crores by under-valuing the licenses he awarded as Telecom Minister.
Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/raja-names-pm-chidambaram-in-court-121744&cp
presented a spirited defense of the decisions that have landed him in Tihar Jail.
Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/raja-names-pm-chidambaram-in-court-121744&cp
Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/raja-names-pm-chidambaram-in-court-121744&cp
presented a spirited defense of the decisions that have landed him in Tihar Jail.
Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/raja-names-pm-chidambaram-in-court-121744&cp
Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/raja-names-pm-chidambaram-in-court-121744&cp
presented a spirited defense of the decisions that have landed him in Tihar Jail.
Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/raja-names-pm-chidambaram-in-court-121744&cp
Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/raja-names-pm-chidambaram-in-court-121744&cp
No comments:
Post a Comment