NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has told the Supreme Court that it will file chargesheets against former telecom minister A Raja and what it described as two 'beneficiary' companies in the 2G spectrum allocation case. It did not name the companies. They are all set to be tried for corruption, money laundering, cheating and forgery in the case by a Special Court.
The CBI chargesheet is likely to charge Raja and other official of the Department of Telecom of conspiring with some telecom companies to enable them to get hold of spectrum at below-market rates. The conspiracy involved a number of actions. One key element of the conspiracy, investigators believe, was the decision by Raja to advance the cut-off date for applicants for telecom licenses to be allocated spectrum from October 1, 2007 to September 25. The other two elements of the conspiracy involved allowing 'ineligible' companies to bid and fiddling with the criteria of first-come-first served to allot airwaves out of turn.
The CBI is trying to find out if Raja received bribes for extending these alleged favours. He has denied all wrong-doing. A bench comprising Justice GS Singhvi and AK Ganguly directed CBI to appoint a competent public prosecutor to present its case before the court. Senior Counsel KK Venugopal, on behalf of agency, said, "the main charge sheet will be filed against A Raja and two companies by March 31. This is only the beginning and many people and companies would also be chargesheeted later on."
CBI in its fresh status report on its investigations in the scam told the court that it has come across many new revelations in the scam. Venugopal informed the court that the agency has examined many alleged beneficiaries including a CEO of a telecom company.
The probe agency is also probing a land deal in Chennai involving the Tatas and the DMK, said Venugopal. Letters Rogatory have been sent to some countries for probing the 2G money trail, he said adding, some progress had been made in case of Mauritius.
The court, while going through the status report, referred to a company and asked, "Is it the same company which has association with Vodafone and (it) was also mentioned in the ED report?" To that, Venugopal replied, "Yes". The court did not name the company. The apext court also asked the agency to place before it transcripts of corporate lobbyist Niira Radia's telephonic conversations tapped by the Income-Tax Department after getting permission from the Home Ministry.
It also asked CBI and the Enforcement Directorate to submit its fresh status reports on March 29, the next date of hearing. Attorney General Goolam E Vahanvati informed the court that the Delhi High Court has agreed to set up an exclusive court for holding trial in the 2G case.
This will be done by March 29 so that the special court can take cognisance of the chargesheet filed by CBI, said Vahanvati. Vahanvati said that appropriate notification would be issued by the Government to conduct the trial under the Prevention of Corruption Act and Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The bench, after going through the CBI report, said that many additional chargesheets will have to be filed by the agency in the case.
"Lines of investigation show that it cannot be done in one chargesheet but many chargesheets have to be filed," the bench said. The court said it would look into a plea for forming a committee to assist and monitor the probe into the case. Advocate Prashant Bhushan on behalf of the petitioner an NGO called Centre for PIL had sought formation of an expert body to oversee the investigation being done by the CBI and ED.
The Centre, however, opposed the idea of forming an expert body saying it would demoralise the officers who are doing a "splendid job". Venugopal said that CBI and ED officers were working 20 to 22 hours daily and without breaks and holidays. He said the raids were being conducted at many places even on Sundays and they were committed to bringing the alleged perpetrators to justice.
Who evolved first-come policy: SC to Govt
The SC has asked the Government to clarify whether the first-come-first-served policy for spectrum allocation was evolved by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India or the Department of Telecommunications. A bench of Justices GS Singhvi and AK Ganguly asked A-G GE Vahanvati to clarify such matter by Thursday as it has conflicting opinions from Trai and the petitioner NGO, the Centre for Public Interest Litigation over the evolution of such policy.
"Was the first-come-first-served policy evolved by DoT or Trai? At what stage was it evolved and what was the rationale behind it," the bench asked. It also asked the govt's top law officer to explain the DoT secretary's written statement dated November 19, 2007, in which he had said that there was abundant spectrum available for allotment, while Trai had been saying at that stage that the spectrum was scarce.
The court said that Trai in 2003 and 2007 had said that the spectrum was scarce and it should be used rationally but DoT was saying that there is abundant spectrum for every operator. The SC wanted to know why DoT ignored Trai's recommendations on effective utilisation of the spectrum. "Why was Trai's recommendation not accepted by DoT? If DoT thought that it was not acceptable, why was it not referred back to Trai for reconsideration," the bench asked. It said it will not go by reports of either Justice Shivraj Patil or the CAG.
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