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2G spectrum case

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The 2G spectrum scam involved officials in the government of India illegally undercharging mobile telephony companies for frequency allocation licenses, which they would use to create 2G subscriptions for cell phones. The shortfall between the money collected and the money which the law mandated to be collected is estimated to be ₹176,645 crore (US$21 billion) as valued by Comptroller and Auditor General of India based on 3G and BWA spectrum auction prices which held in 2010.[1] However the exact loss is disputed. In a chargesheet filed on 2 April 2011 by the investigating agency Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the agency pegged the loss at ₹30,984.55 crore (US$3.7 billion)[2] whereas Telecom Regulatory Authority of India says that the Govt. has actually gained ₹3,000 crore (US$360 million) by selling the spectrum.[2] Similarly Kapil Sibal, minister for communications & IT, said in 2011 during a press conference that no loss was caused by selling 2G licenses.[3] All the speculations of profit, loss and no-loss were put to rest on 2 February 2012 when the Supreme Court of India delivered judgement on a public interest litigation (PIL) which was directly related to the 2G spectrum scam. The Supreme Court declared allotment of spectrum as "unconstitutional and arbitrary" and quashed all the 122 licenses issued in 2008 during tenure of A. Raja (then minister for communications & IT) the main accuse in the 2G scam case.[4] The court further said that A. Raja "wanted to favour some companies at the cost of the public exchequer" and "virtually gifted away important national asset".[5]

The issuing of licenses occurred in 2008, but the scam came to public notice when the Indian Income Tax Department was investigating political lobbyist Nira Radia. The government's investigation and the government's reactions to the findings in the investigation were the subject of debate, as were the nature of the Indian media's reactions. Much of the credit of bringing this whole scam into the public light (by pursuing it in the court of law) goes to Subramanian Swamy who is the chief petitioner for this case in the court of law.[6][7]

In 2011, Time magazine listed the scam at number two on their “Top 10 Abuses of Power” list (just behind the Watergate scandal).[8][9][10]

Background

India is divided into 22 telecoms zones and there are a total 281 zonal licences in the market.[11] According to the telecom policy of India, when a licence is allotted to an operator some start-up spectrum is bundled along with it.[12] The policy does not have a provision for auctioning the spectrum.[13] In year 2008, 122 new second generation (2G) Unified Access Service (UAS) licenses were given to telecom companies at the price of 2001 and on first come first serve basis. As per the chargesheet filled by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) several rules were violated and bribes were paid to favour certain firms while awarding 2G spectrum licenses. The audit report of Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) says that several licenses were issued to firms with no prior experience in the telecom sector or were ineligible or had suppressed relevant facts.[11] In November 2007 Prime Minister of India Dr Manmohan Singh had written a letter to telecom minister A. Raja directing him to ensure allotment of 2G spectrum in a fair and transparent manner and to ensure license fee was properly revised. Raja wrote back to the Prime Minister rejecting many of his recommendations.[14] In the same month Ministry of Finance wrote a letter to Department of Telecommunications (DOT) raising concerns over the procedure adopted by it[14] but DOT went ahead with its plan of giving 2G licenses. It preponed the cut-off date to 25 September, from 1 October 2007.[14] Later on the same day, DoT posted an announcement on its website saying those who apply between 3.30 and 4.30 pm on that very day would be issued licences in accordance with the said policy.[14] Companies like Unitech & Swan Telecom got licenses without any prior telecom experience.[13] Swan Telecom got the license even though it did not meet eligibility criteria.[13] Swan got license for ₹1,537 crore (US$180 million) and then it sold 45% stake to UAE based company Etisalat for ₹4,200 crore (US$500 million).[13] Unitech Wireless, a subsidiary of the Unitech Group, got license for ₹1,661 crore (US$200 million) and later sold 60% stake for ₹6,200 crore (US$740 million) to Norway based company Telenor.[13]

Following is the list of companies who got the 122 2G licenses during the tenure of A. Raja as Telecom Minister.[15][16] (The licenses were later quashed by Supreme Court)[17][18]

Name of Company Telecom regions for which license was granted Number of license granted Remarks
Adonis Projects Pvt. Ltd. Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh (East) 6 Adonis Projects, Nahan Properties, Aska Projects, Volga Properties, Azare Properties & Hudson Properties were acquired by Unitech. Unitech Infrastructure and Unitech Builders & Estates were already subsidiaries of Unitech Group. So in 2008 Unitech had 22 2G licenses. Later in the same year Norway based company Telenor bought majority stake in the telecom company from the Unitech Group. Now it offers services under Uninor brand holding 22 pan India licences.
Nahan Properties Pvt. Ltd. Assam, Bihar, North East, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh (East), West Bengal 6
Aska Projects Ltd. Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka 3
Volga Properties Pvt. Ltd. Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra 3
Azure Properties Ltd. Kolkata 1
Hudson Properties Delhi 1
Unitech Builders & Estates Pvt. Ltd. Tamil Nadu (including Chennai) 1
Unitech Infrastructures Pvt. Ltd. Mumbai 1
Loop Telecom Pvt. Ltd. Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal, Pradesh, Kerala, Kolkata, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh (East), Uttar Pradesh (West), West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa, Tamil Nadu (including Chennai), Assam, Jammu & Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, North East 21
Datacom Solutions Pvt. Ltd. Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Kolkata, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, North East, Orissa, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu (including Chennai), Uttar Pradesh (East), Uttar Pradesh (West), West Bengal, Delhi, Mumbai 21 Operates under brand name Videocon Telecommunications Limited
Shyam Telelink Limited Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Kolkata, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh (East), Uttar Pradesh (West), West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa, Tamil Nadu (including Chennai), Assam, Jammu & Kashmir, North East 17 Shyam Telelink Limited & Shyani Telelink Limited operate together with their combined 21 licenses. During late 2008 Russia based group Sistema bought majority stake in the telecom company and now they operate under brand name MTS India.
Shyani Telelink Limited Mumbai, Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh 4
Swan Telecom Pvt. Ltd. Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu (including Chennai), Uttar Pradesh (East), Uttar Pradesh (West), Delhi, Mumbai 13 In 2008, Swan Telecom merged itself with Allianz Infratech (P) Ltd. During late 2008 Abu Dhabi's Etisalat bought about 45 percent of the company and renamed it to Etisalat DB Telecom
Allianz Infratech (P) Ltd. Bihar, Madhya Pradesh 2
Idea Cellular Assam, Punjab, Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir, North East, Kolkata, West Bengal, Orissa, Tamil Nadu (including Chennai) 9 Idea Cellular bought Spice Communications Ltd. in 2008 for an amount of ₹2,700 crore (US$320 million).[19] So out of 122 spectrum licenses sold in 2008 Idea Cellular owns 13 licenses
Spice Communications Ltd. Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra 4
S Tel Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, Orissa, North East, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh 6 In January 2009, Bahrain Telecommunications signed a deal with S Tel to buy 49% shares in S Tel for $225 million. C Sivasankaran owns the remaining (51%) share.[20][21] In May 2009, Sahara Group bought 11.7% stake in S Tel[22]
Tata Teleservices Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, North East 3 In late 2008 promoters of Tata Teleservices sold 26% equity stake to a Japanese telecom giant NTT Docomo for about ₹13,070 crore (US$1.6 billion) or an enterprise value of ₹50,269 crore (US$6.0 billion).[23]

Parties accused of involvement

The selling of the licenses brought attention to three groups of entities – politicians and bureaucrats who had the authority to sell licenses, corporations who were buying the licenses and media professionals who mediated between the politicians and the corporations.

Politicians accused

The Centre for Public Interest Litigation filed the first petition against the Union of India for irregularities in a the award of 2G spectrum. The petition alleged that the government had lost $15.53 billion by issuing spectrum in 2008 based on 2001 prices, and by not following a competitive bidding process. This led to further petitions and the launch of a probe in 2010.[24]

Politicians named as accused in the chargesheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the Special CBI Court, allegations levelled against them by CBI and charges framed against them by the Special CBI court.[25][26][27][28]

  • A. Raja :
    • Political career - Political party DMK, 4 times Member of Parliament, present constituency Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu, former Union Minister of State (Rural Development - 1999), former Union Minister of State (Health and Family Welfare - 2003), former Union Cabinet Minister (Environment & Forests - 2004), former Union Cabinet Minister (Communication and Information Technology - 2007 & 2009)[29][30][31][32]
    • Allegation - In a joint investigation report prepared by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Income Tax Department the agencies allege that A.Raja could have received ₹3,000 crore (US$360 million) as bribe for bringing forward the cut-off date for applications for spectrum from the initial 1 October 2007 to 25 September 2007.[33][34] The deadline switch eliminated many applications, enabling Raja to favour a few with spectrum.[33][34] The agencies also alleged that he used bank accounts under his wife's name in Mauritius and Seychelles to chanelise the kickbacks he received.[35] A chargesheet filed by CBI alleges that Raja conspired with the accused, subverted the first-come first-served (FCFS) policy and waywardly redefined it to ensure that Swan and Unitech got 2G licences.[36] He didn’t auction the 2G spectrum or adopt some other market-determined methodology to determine its real valuation and instead benchmarked it to a rate discovered in 2001, when the telecom sector was at a nascent stage.[36]
    • Charges - Criminal breach of trust by a public servant under section 409, criminal conspiracy under section 120-B, cheating under section 420 & forgery under sections 468 and 471. Booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act for accepting illegal gratification.[25][37][38]
    • Status - Taken into custody (arrested) by CBI on 2 February 2011[39] and lodged in Tihar Jail since then (as of April 2012)[40] He never applied for bail.[40][41] As of April 2012, trial is being conducted in Special CBI Court.[42]
  • M. K. Kanimozhi :
    • Political career - Daughter of 5 time Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M. Karunanidhi. Political party DMK. She is a Member of Parliament, representing Tamil Nadu in the Rajya Sabha (the upper house of Indian Parliament).[43][44]
    • Allegation - As per the chargesheet filed by CBI Kanimozhi has 20% stake in her family owned Kalaignar TV, her step-mother Dayalu Ammal owns 60% stake in the same channel.[45] CBI alleges that Kanimozhi was an "active brain" behind the channel's operations[45] and she worked along with former telecom minister A. Raja to get DB Realty promoter Shahid Balwa to circuitously route ₹200 crore (US$24 million) to Kalaignar TV.[46] According to CBI, Kanimozhi was in regular touch with A Raja regarding launching of Kalaignar TV channel and its other pending works.[46] CBI alleges that A Raja was further pursuing the cause of Kalaignar TV not only for getting registration of the company from Ministry of Information and Broadcasting but also for getting it in the DTH operator TATA Sky's bouquet.[46]
    • Charges - Criminal conspiracy to cause criminal breach of trust by a public servant, criminal conspiracy under section 120-B, cheating under section 420 & forgery under sections 468 and 471. Booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act.[25][37]
    • Status - Taken into custody (arrested) by CBI on 20 May 2011 on th basis of the report submitted by Income Tax Department.[47][48] Granted bail on 28 November 2011 after spending 188 days in judicial custody.[49][50] As of April 2012, trial is being conducted in Special CBI Court.[42]

Bureaucrats accused

Bureaucrats named as accused in the chargesheet filed by CBI in the Special CBI Court, allegations levelled against them by CBI and charges framed against them by the Special CBI court.[25][26][27][28]

  • Siddharth Behura :
    • Designation - Telecom Secretary when licenses were granted.[25][51]
    • Allegation - According to the chargesheet filed by CBI, Behura conspired with A. Raja & several other accused. CBI alleges that when the application deadline time was declared as between 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM, Behura allegedly shut counters to physically block other telecom companies.[13]
    • Charges - Criminal breach of trust by a public servant under section 409, criminal conspiracy under section 120-B, cheating under section 420 & forgery under sections 468 and 471. Booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act for accepting illegal gratification.[25][52]
    • Status - Taken into custody (arrested) by CBI on 2 February 2011[39] and lodged in Tihar jail since then (as of early April 2012).[53] Applied for bail a number of times but every time bail got rejected.[53] As of April 2012, trial is being conducted in Special CBI Court.[42]
  • RK Chandolia :
    • Designation – Raja's private secretary when licenses were granted.[25][54]
    • Allegation - As per the charsheet filed by CBI, like Behura, Chandolia too conspired with A. Raja and several other accused. The agency alleges that when the application deadline time was declared as between 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM, Chandolia along with Behura allegedly shut counters to physically block other telecom companies.[13]
    • Charges - Criminal conspiracy to cause criminal breach of trust by a public servant, criminal conspiracy under section 120 B, cheating under section 420 & forgery under sections 468 and 471. Booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act[25]
    • Status - Taken into custody (arrested) by CBI on 2 February 2011.[39] Granted bail by the special CBI court 1 December 2011 but on 2 December 2011 High Court took suo motu notice of newspaper reports of the bail granted to Chandolia and stayed it.[53] Chandolia appealed against High Court order in Supreme Court and on 2 January 2012 the apex court extended interim stay on High Court's order.[55] As of April 2012, trial is being conducted in Special CBI Court.[42]

Corporate executives accused

Corporates named as accused in the chargesheet filed by CBI in the Special Court and charges framed against them by the Special court.[25][26][27][28]

  • Sanjay Chandra
    • Designation - Former MD, Unitech Wireless[25]
    • Charges - Criminal conspiracy to cause criminal breach of trust by a public servant, criminal conspiracy under section 120-B, cheating under section 420 & forgery under sections 468 and 471. Booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act[25]
    • Status - Taken into custody by CBI on 20 April 2011,[56][57] granted bail on 24 November 2011.[58] As of April 2012, trial is being conducted in Special CBI Court.[42]
  • Gautam Doshi :
    • Designation - Group MD, Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group[25]
    • Charges - Criminal conspiracy to cause criminal breach of trust by a public servant, criminal conspiracy under section 120-B, cheating under section 420 & forgery under sections 468 and 471. Booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act[25]
    • Status - Taken into custody by CBI on 20 April 2011,[56] granted bail on 24 November 2011.[58] As of April 2012, trial is being conducted in Special CBI Court.[42]
  • Hari Nair :
    • Designation - Senior Vice-President, Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group[25]
    • Charges - Criminal conspiracy to cause criminal breach of trust by a public servant, criminal conspiracy under section 120-B, cheating under section 420 & forgery under sections 468 and 471.Booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act[25]
    • Status - Taken into custody by CBI on 20 April 2011,[56] granted bail on 24 November 2011.[58] As of April 2012, trial is being conducted in Special CBI Court.[42]
  • Surendra Pipara :
    • Designation - Senior vice- President, Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group[25]
    • Charges - Criminal conspiracy to cause criminal breach of trust by a public servant, criminal conspiracy under section 120-B, cheating under section 420 & forgery under sections 468 and 471. Booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act[25]
    • Status - Taken into custody by CBI on 20 April 2011,[56] granted bail on 24 November 2011.[58] As of April 2012, trial is being conducted in Special CBI Court.[42]
  • Vinod Goenka :
    • Designation - Promoter and Managing Director, DB Realty & Swan Telecom[25]
    • Charges - Criminal conspiracy to cause criminal breach of trust by a public servant, criminal conspiracy under section 120 B, cheating under section 420, forgery under sections 468 and 471, fabrication of evidence under section 193. Booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act[25]
    • Status - Taken into custody by CBI on 20 April 2011,[56] granted bail on 24 November 2011.[58] As of April 2012, trial is being conducted in Special CBI Court.[42]
  • Shahid Balwa :
    • Designation – Promoter, DB Realty & Swan Telecom[25]
    • Charges - Criminal conspiracy to cause criminal breach of trust by a public servant Criminal conspiracy under section 120-B, cheating under section 420, forgery under sections 468 and 471 & fabrication of evidence under section 193. Booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act.[25]
    • Status - Taken into custody by CBI on 8 February 2011,[59] granted bail on 29 November 2011.[60] As of April 2012, trial is being conducted in Special CBI Court.[42]
  • Asif Balwa (younger brother of Shahid Balwa) :
    • Designation – Director, Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables[25]
    • Charges - Criminal conspiracy to cause criminal breach of trust by a public servant, criminal conspiracy under section 120-B, cheating under section 420, forgery under sections 468 and 471 & fabrication of evidence under section 193. Booked under Prevention of Corruption Act[25]
    • Status - Taken into custody by CBI on 29 March 2011,[61] granted bail on 28 November 2011.[62] As of April 2012, trial is being conducted in Special CBI Court.[42]
  • Rajiv Agarwal :
    • Designation - Director, Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables[25]
    • Charges - Criminal conspiracy to cause criminal breach of trust by a public servant, criminal conspiracy under section 120-B, cheating under section 420, forgery under sections 468 and 471, fabrication of evidence under section 193. Booked under Prevention of Corruption Act[25]
    • Status - Taken into custody by CBI on 29 March 2011,[61] granted bail on 28 November 2011.[62] As of April 2012, trial is being conducted in Special CBI Court.[42]
  • Sharath Kumar
    • Designation – Managing Director, Kalaignar TV[25]
    • Charges - Criminal conspiracy to cause criminal breach of trust by a public servant, criminal conspiracy under section 120-B, cheating under section 420, forgery under sections 468 and 471 & fabrication of evidence under section 193. Booked under Prevention of Corruption Act[25]
    • Status - Taken into custody by CBI on 20 May 2011,[63] granted bail on 28 November 2011.[64] As of April 2012, trial is being conducted in Special CBI Court.[42]
  • Ravi Ruia :
    • Designation - Vice Chairman, Essar Group[25]
    • Charges - Criminal conspiracy under section 120 B & cheating under section 420 of Indian Penal Code.[25]
    • Status - Not taken into custody as yet.[65] As of April 2012, trial is being conducted in Special CBI Court.[42]
  • Anshuman Ruia :
    • Designation - Diector, Essar Group[25]
    • Charges - Criminal conspiracy under section 120 B & cheating under section 420 of Indian Penal Code.[25]
    • Status - Not taken into custody as yet.[65] As of April 2012, trial is being conducted in Special CBI Court.[42]
  • Vikas Saraf :
    • Designation - Director for strategy and planning, Essar Group[25]
    • Charges - Criminal conspiracy under section 120 B & cheating under section 420 of Indian Penal Code.[25]
    • Status - Not taken into custody as yet.[65] As of April 2012, trial is being conducted in Special CBI Court.[42]
  • IP Khaitan :
    • Designation - Promotor, Loop Telecom[25]
    • Charges - Criminal conspiracy under section 120 B & cheating under section 420 of Indian Penal Code.[25]
    • Status - Not taken into custody as yet.[65] As of April 2012, trial is being conducted in Special CBI Court.[42]
  • Kiran Khaitan :
    • Designation - Promotor, Loop Telecom[25]
    • Charges - Criminal conspiracy under section 120 B & cheating under section 420 of Indian Penal Code.[66]
    • Status - Not taken into custody as yet.[65] As of April 2012, trial is being conducted in Special CBI Court.[42]

Film and entertainment persons accused

  • Karim Morani :
    • Designation - (Promoter and Director, Cineyug Films)[25]
    • Allegation - In the chargesheet filed by Income Tax Department the agency alleged that Karim Morani owned Cineyug Films was a part of the circuitous route used by another accuse Shahid Balwa to transfer illegal gratification[67] of ₹200 crore (US$24 million) to Kalaignar TV of which Kanimozhi, was a director.[67] According to the chargesheet, Shahid Balwa and Vinod Goenka, promoters of DB Realty transferred ₹209.25 crore (US$25 million) to Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables of which Shahid Balwa's younger brother Asif Balwa was a director.[67][68] Kusegaon Fruits & Vegetables then transferred a sum of ₹200 crore (US$24 million) to Cineyug Films whose promoter Karim Morani transferred it to Kalaignar TV[67]
    • Charges - Criminal conspiracy to cause criminal breach of trust by a public servant, criminal conspiracy under section 120-B, cheating under section 420, forgery under sections 468 and 471, fabrication of evidence under section 193. Booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act[25]
    • Status - Taken into custody by CBI on 30 May 2011,[69] granted bail on 28 November 2011.[64] As of April 2012, trial is being conducted in Special CBI Court.[42]

Corporations accused

Companies named in the chargesheet filed by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and charges framed against them.[25][26][27][28]

  • Unitech Wireless :
    • Charges - Criminal conspiracy to cause criminal breach of trust by a public servant, criminal conspiracy under section 120-B, cheating under section 420 & forgery under sections 468 and 471. Booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act.[25]
    • Status - As of April 2012, trial is being conducted in Special CBI Court.[42]
  • Reliance Telecom :
    • Charges - Criminal conspiracy to cause criminal breach of trust by a public servant, criminal conspiracy under section 120-B, cheating under section 420, forgery under sections 468 and 471. Booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act[25]
    • Status - As of April 2012, trial is being conducted in Special CBI Court.[42]
  • Swan Telecom :
    • Charges - Criminal conspiracy to cause criminal breach of trust by a public servant, criminal conspiracy under section 120-B, cheating under section 420, forgery under sections 468 and 471. Booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act[25]
    • Status - As of April 2012, trial is being conducted in Special CBI Court.[42]

Other companies named in the chargesheet are:[70][71][72]

  • Loop Telecom Pvt Ltd
  • Loop Mobile India Ltd
  • Essar Tele Holding
  • Essar (Parent group of Essar Tele Holding)

Media persons' dubious role

Main article : Radia tapes controversy

Media sources such as OPEN and Outlook reported that two senior journalists Barkha Dutt (Group Editor of NDTV) and Vir Sanghvi (Editorial Director of Hindustan Times) knew that corporate lobbyist Nira Radia was influencing the decisions of appointment of telecom minister. Radia wanted A Raja to be made telecom minister.[73] The two magazines made public the telephone conversations between Nira Radia, Barkha Dutt & Vir Sanghvi.[74][75] Radia's phones were being tapped by Income Tax department. Critics allege that Barkha Dutt and Vir Sanghvi knew about nexus between government and the media industry but still they supported this corrupt activity and suppressed news reporting the discovery of the corrupt practice.[73] However these people were not named as accused in the chargesheet filed by Income Tax Department, but were investigated by the CBI.[citation needed]

Chronology of events and investigation

  • May 2007: A Raja takes over as Telecom Minister.[76]
  • August 2007: Process of allotment of 2G spectrum for telecom along with Universal Access Service (UAS) Licences initiated by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
  • 25 September 2007: Telecom Ministry issues press note fixing deadline for application as 1 October 2007.
  • 1 October 2007: DoT receives 575 applications for UAS licences of 46 companies.[77]
  • 2 November 2007: The Prime Minister writes to Raja directing him to ensure allotment of 2G spectrum in a fair and transparent manner and to ensure that licence fee was properly revised. Raja writes back to the Prime Minister rejecting many of his recommendations.
  • 22 November 2007: Finance Ministry writes to DoT raising concerns over the procedure adopted by it. Demand for review rejected.
  • 10 January 2008: DoT decides to issue licences on first-come-first-serve basis, preponing the cut-off date to 25 September, from 1 October 2007. Later on the same day, DoT posted an announcement on its website saying those who apply between 3.30 pm and 4.30 pm would be issued licences in accordance with the said policy.[78][79]
  • 2008: Swan Telecom, Unitech and Tata Teleservices sell off a part of their stakes at much higher rates to Etisalat, Telenor and DoCoMo, respectively.[80][81][82]
  • 4 May 2009: An NGO Telecom Watchdog files complaint to the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) on the illegalities in the spectrum allocation to Loop Telecom.
  • 19 May 2009: Another complaint was filed to the CVC by Arun Agarwal, highlighting grant of spectrum to Swan Telecom at throwaway prices.
  • 2009: CVC directs CBI to investigate the irregularities in allocation of 2G spectrum.
  • 1 July 2009: Delhi HC holds advancing of cut-off date as illegal on a petition of telecom company S-Tel.[83]
  • 21 October 2009: CBI registers a case and files an FIR against “unknown officers of DoT and unknown private persons/companies under various provisions of IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act.
  • 22 October 2009: Income Tax Department raids DoT offices.[84][85][86]
  • 16 November 2009: CBI seeks details of tapped conversation of corporate lobbyist Niira Radia to find out involvement of middlemen in the grant of spectrum to telecom companies. It has sought help from the Directorate General of Income Tax Investigation regarding information on Ms. Nira Radia of M/s Noesis Consultancy and records pertaining to middlemen regarding award of 2G spectrum licences
  • 13 March 2010: SC upholds Delhi HC verdict on cut off date advancement as illegal[87][88]
  • 31 March 2010: CAG says that there was large scale irregularities in the spectrum allocation.
  • 2 April 2010: CBI DIG (Investigations) Vineet Agarwal IRS and Director General of Income Tax (Investigations) Milap Jain IRS, who were investigating the case, transferred. Milap Jain was transferred as Director General of International Taxation.[89]
  • 6 May 2010: Telephonic conversation between Raja and Niira Radia taped by the Income Tax Department made public by the media.[90]
  • May, 2010: NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation moves the Delhi High Court seeking investigation into the scam by SIT.
  • 25 May 2010: Delhi HC dismisses the petition.
  • August 2010: Appeal filed in the Supreme Court against the High Court’s order.
  • 18 August 2010: HC refuses to direct the Prime Minister to decide on a complaint by Janata Party chief Swamy seeking sanction to prosecute Raja for his involvement in 2G scam.
  • 13 September 2010: SC asks government, Raja to reply within 10 days to three petitions filed by CPIL and others alleging there was a ₹70,000 crore (US$8.4 billion) scam in the grant of telecom licences in 2008.
  • 24 September 2010: Swamy moves SC seeking direction to the PM to sanction prosecution of Raja.
  • 27 September 2010: Income Tax Department informs SC of probe against firms suspected to have violated FEMA. Says can’t deny or confirm now Raja’s involvement in the scam.
  • 8 October 2010: SC asks government to respond to CAG report about the scam.[91]
  • 21 October 2010: Draft reports of CAG placed before the Supreme Court.
  • 29 October 2010: SC pulls up CBI for its tardy progress in the investigations into the scam.[92][93]
  • 10 November 2010: CAG submits report on 2G spectrum to government stating loss of ₹176,000 crore (US$21 billion) to exchequer.
  • 11 November 2010: DoT files affidavit in SC saying CAG did not have the authority to question the policy decision as per which licence were issued to new players in 2008.
  • 14 November 2010: A Raja resigns as Telecom Minister[94][95]
  • 15 November 2010: Kapil Sibal given additional charge of Telecom Ministry.[96][97]
  • 20 November 2010: Affidavit on behalf of PM filed in Supreme Court. Rejects charge of inaction on Swamy’s complaint.[98][99][100]
  • 22 November 2010: CBI tells SC it will file charge sheet in the case within three months.
  • 22 November 2010: CBI tells SC role of corporate lobbyist Niira Radia would be questioned by it.
  • 24 November 2010: SC reserves verdict on Swamy’s plea seeking direction to PM for grant of sanction to prosecute Raja.
  • 25 November 2010: SC ticks off CBI for not questioning Raja.
  • 29 November 2010: CBI files status report on 2G spectrum scam probe.
  • 30 November 2010: SC questions CVC P J Thomas’s moral right to supervise CBI’s probe into 2G spectrum scam as he himself was Telecom Secretary at that point of time.[101]
  • 1 December 2010: SC directs original tapes containing conversation between corporate lobbyist Niira Radia and others be handed over to it.
  • 1 December 2010: Raja questions CAG findings in the SC.
  • 2 December 2010: Government places recorded tapes in the SC.
  • 2 December 2010: SC comes down heavily on Raja for bypassing and overruling PM’s advice to defer allocation of 2G spectrum by a few days.
  • 8 December 2010: SC favours including in the probe period since 2001 when first-come-first-serve was the norm for spectrum allocation.
  • 8 December 2010: SC asks Centre to consider setting up of a special court to try 2G spectrum scam case.
  • 8 December 2010: Income Tax Department submits report. Says money trail covers 10 countries, including Mauritius.
  • 14 December 2010: Another PIL in SC seeking cancellation of new telecom licences and 2G spectrum allocated during Raja’s tenure.
  • 15 December 2010: Swamy files petition in a Delhi court seeking his inclusion as a public prosecutor in 2G spectrum case.
  • 15 December 2010: Swamy mentions in complaint that Raja favoured “ineligible” private companies Swan Telecom Pvt Ltd and Unitech Wireless Ltd in allocating the spectrum.
  • 16 December 2010: SC decides to monitor the CBI inquiry[102][103][104]
  • 4 January 2011: Swamy moves SC seeking cancellation of 2G spectrum licenses.
  • 10 January 2011: Supreme Court issues notice to Centre on the plea seeking cancellation of 2G licenses. Also issues notices to 11 companies which allegedly did not fulfill the roll-out obligations or were ineligible.
  • 30 January 2011: Government’s decision to regularise licenses of the companies which failed to meet the deadline for roll-out obligation challenged in the Supreme Court.
  • 2 February 2011: Raja, former Telecom Secretary Siddartha Behura and Raja’s former Personal Secretary R K Chandolia arrested and next day they were remanded in CBI custody.
  • 8 February 2011: Raja remanded to two more days of CBI custody. Behura and Chandolia sent to judicial custody.
  • 8 February 2011: Shahid Usman Balwa, promoter of Swan Telecom, arrested by CBI.
  • 10 February 2011: SC asks CBI to bring under its scanner corporate houses which were beneficiaries of the 2G spectrum. Raja remanded to CBI custody for four more days by a special CBI court along with Balwa.
  • 14 February 2011: Raja’s CBI custody extended for three more days. Balwa’s custody extended for four days.
  • 17 February 2011: Raja sent to Tihar Jail under judicial custody.
  • 18 February 2011: Income Tax Department questions Kani Mozhi in Chennai Headquarters.
  • 24 February 2011: CBI tells a Delhi court that Balwa facilitated transaction to Kalaignar TV.
  • 28 February 2011: Raja seeks judicial proceedings through video conferencing stating that he faces threat to life from fellow prisoners.
  • 1 March 2011: CBI tells SC that 63 persons are under scanner. Raja allowed by CBI court to appear before it via video-conferencing.
  • 14 March 2011: The Delhi High Court sets up special court to deal exclusively with 2G cases. Balwa also allowed to appear via video-conferencing.
  • 17 March 2011: SC reserves order on cancellation of 2G licenses. It rejected companies' claim saying that Principle of Estoppel can't be applied to protect illegality.[105][106]
  • 29 March 2011: SC permits CBI to file charge sheet on 2 April instead of 31 March. Two more persons — Asif Balwa and Rajeev Agarwal — arrested.
  • 2 April 2011: CBI files its first charge sheet in the 2G spectrum allocation scam.[107][108][109]
  • 25 April 2011: CBI files second charge sheet and court issues summons to Kanimozhi, Sharad Kumar and Karim Morani taking cognizance of the charge sheet.[110][111][112]
  • 6 May 2011: Kanimozhi and Sharad Kumar appear before court and file bail pleas while Morani sought exemption from appearance on medical ground.[113][114][115]
  • 6 May 2011: SC issues contempt notice to Sahara India managing director Subroto Roy and two others for alleged interference in the ongoing ED investigation into the 2G spectrum case.[116][117]
  • 7 May 2011: Special CBI Court reserves order on Kanimozhi and Sharad Kumar’s bail applications.
  • 14 May 2011: Special CBI Court defers order on their bail pleas for 20 May.
  • 20 May 2011: Special CBI Court rejects bail pleas of Kanimozhi and Sharad Kumar and orders their forthwith arrest saying that there was a possibility of witnesses being influenced considering the magnitude of the crime.[118][119]
  • 8 June 2011: Delhi HC rejects bail pleas of Kanimozhi and Sharad Kumar citing that there are certain prima facie evidences against the accused and they may be in a position to influence the 2G probe[120][121]
  • 20 June 2011: SC rejects Kanimozhi’s bail plea[122][123][124]
  • 25 July 2011: Arguments on Charge begins. Raja seeks to make Prime Minister and former finance minister P Chidambaram as witness.
  • 26 August 2011: Special CBI court allows Subramanian Swamy to argue his own case (mainly to address the possible loop holes in CBI investigation of the case)[125][126]
  • 30 August 2011: Income Tax Department orders freezing of accounts, attachment of properties worth ₹223 crore (US$27 million) of five companies mainly related to DB Realty under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA)[127][128]
  • 1 September 2011: ED files status report in Supreme Court, says there have been FEMA violation of ₹ 10,000 crore[129]
  • 15 September 2011: Swamy pleads before special CBI court that P Chidambaram should be made co-accused[130]
  • 22 September 2011: CBI defends Chidambaram in SC, blames DoT for all wrongs.
  • 26 September 2011: CBI moves plea for framing fresh charge for criminal breach of trust against Raja, Chandolia and Behura.[131][132]
  • 29 September 2011: CBI says role of Anil Ambani being probed, gives a virtual clean chit to Tata and Videocon group.[133][134]
  • 9 October 2011: CBI files FIR against Maran and his brother in Aircel-Maxis deal.[135][136][137]
  • 10 October 2011: SC reserves order against Subramanian Swamy’s plea for a probe into Home Minister Chidambaram’s role in the 2G scam.[138][139] On the same day CBI books former telecom minister and DMK leader Dayanidhi Maran and his brother and media baron Kalanithi Maran[140]
  • 22 October 2011: Special CBI Court finds prima facie evidence to put on trial all 17 accused including Raja on various counts like criminal conspiracy, breach of trust, cheating and forgery.[141][142]
  • 3 November 2011: Special CBI court dismisses bail pleas of all the 8 applicants (including Kanimozhi)[143]
  • 8 November 2011: Special CBI court orders CBI to give copy of file on sale of equity by telecom companies (for investigating P Chidambaram's involvement) to Swamy[144][145]
  • 9 November 2011: Delhi HC refuses to grant interim bail to Karim Morani on health grounds wondering Why everybody falls sick once he is in custody? HC issues notice to the CBI on its reply on the bail pleas of the five accused by 1 December.[146][147]
  • 11 November 2011: Trial of the 17 accused begins in Patiala House special CBI court.[148][149]
  • 14 November 2011: UPA govt moves SC seeking to restrain Dr Subramanian Swamy from making public allegations against the UPA leadership (especially Home Minister P Chidambaram and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi) in the 2G scam case[150][151]
  • 22 November 2011: The Special CBI court shifts the trial to the Tihar Jail complex following a Delhi high court order[152][153]
  • 23 November 2011: SC grants bail to 5 corporate executives – Sanjay Chandra of Unitech Wireless, Vinod Goenka of Swan Telecom as well as Reliance Group's Gautam Doshi, Surendra Pipara and Hari Nayar.[154]
  • 28 November 2011: HC grants bail to DMK MP Kanimozhi and 4 others namely Karim Morani, Sharad Kumar and Asif Balwa and Rajeev Agarwal. The court upheld the principle of parity under Section 144 of the Constitution of India that upholds an order passed by the SC.[155][156]
  • 29 November 2011: The special CBI court grants bail to Shahid Balwa citing principle of parity that SC and HC have already granted bail to 10 other accused[157][158]
  • 1 December 2011: The special CBI court grants bail to A. Raja's ex-private secretary R. K. Chandolia and puts additional condition to not visit the DoT without prior permission of the court[159][160]
  • 2 December 2011: Taking a suo motu cognizance, HC stays bail given by trial court to R K Chandolia[161]
  • 7 December 2011: SC stays HC's suo motu order against Chandolia's bail[162][163]
  • 8 December 2011: The special CBI court accepts Swamy's plea against Chidambaram to become a witness in his own complaint and examine 2 witnesses, including senior CBI official and senior Finance Ministry official[164][165]
  • 12 December 2011: CBI files third charge sheet naming Essar Group promoters Ravi Ruia, his son Anshuman Ruia and its director (Strategy and Planning) Vikas Saraf, Loop Telecom promoters Kiran Khaitan (sister of Ravi Ruia) and her husband I P Khaitan. It also charge sheets Loop Mobile India Ltd, its subsidiary Loop Telecom Pvt Ltd and Essar Tele Holding.[166][167]
  • 16 December 2011: HC rejects bail plea of Siddharth Behura saying "he was the ‘perpetrator’ of the illegal designs of Raja and would not claim benefit of parity with 10 others released on bail"[168]
  • 2 February 2012: The Supreme court of India cancelled all 122 licenses allotted during A Raja tenure and imposed Rs 5 crore(US$ 1,018,122) fine on Unitech, Swan & Tata Teleservices. It also imposed a fine of Rs 50 lakh on Loop Telecom Pvt Ltd, S-Tel, Allianz Infratech and Sistema Shyam Tele Services Ltd. It also asked trial court to decide whether Home Minister P Chidambram should be made co-accused in 2G scam.[169][170]
  • 4 February 2012: The special court of justice O.P Saini dismissed the plea of Subramanian Swamy to make then Finance Minister P.Chidambram as co-accused in the 2G scam.[171]
  • 8 February 2012: ED registers money laundering case against DMK leader Dayanidhi Maran[172] and his brother Kalanithi Maran for allegedly receiving illegal gratification of about ₹ 550 crore in the Aircel-Maxis deal.[173]
  • 9 February 2012: Essar Group and Loop Telecom approach Supreme Court against its trial before Special CBI Court in 2G case.[174][175]
  • 15 February 2012: Supreme Court refused to grant interim stay on the summonses issued against Essar Group, Loop Telecom and their officials by a special CBI court to appear before it on 22 February for their alleged involvement in a 2G spectrum scam.[176]
  • 22 February 2012: CBI lodges strong protest with CVC on the "dirty tricks" of certain Income Tax officials to intimidate crucial witnesses in the 2G case allegedly at the behest of DMK’s Minister of State (Finance) SS Palanimanickam. Dr. Swamy said he would approach Supreme Court on this matter.[177]
  • 23 February 2012: Subramanian Swamy files petition in Supreme Court challenging trial court's order which had dismissed Swamy's plea to make Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram as a co-accused in the 2G scam.[178]
  • 2 March 2012: Govt of India files review petition in Supreme Court seeking partial review of the court's 2 February 2012 order which had quashed 122 licenses.[179] The Govt questioned Supreme Court's authority over ruling against the first-come first-served policy but stayed away from challenging the cancellation of 122 licences issued during the tenure of A Raja as Telecom Minister.[180] On the same day former telecom minister A Raja, Sistema, majority shareholder in MTS India, Uninor and other telecom companies too filed a review petition in Supreme Court.[181]
  • 4 April 2012: Other than Government of India's partial review petition Supreme Court dismissed all 10 review petitions.[182] The telecom companies whose review petition was dismissed include Videocon Telecommunications Ltd, S Tel Ltd, Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd, Tata Teleservices Ltd, Unitech Wireless (Tamil Nadu) Pvt Ltd, Etisalat DB Telecom Pvt Ltd and Idea Cellular Ltd.[182]
  • 12 April 2012: Government filed presidential reference in Supreme Court seeking the court's opinion on various issues arising from its 2 February 2012 judgement[183]

Licenses quashed

On 2 February 2012 Supreme Court of India delivered judgement on petitions filed by Subramanian Swamy and Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) which had challenged allotment of 2G licenses granted in 2008.[184] The Supreme Court quashed all 122 spectrum licences granted during the tenure of former communications minister A Raja.[184] and described the allocation of 2G spectrum as "unconstitutional and arbitrary".[185] The bench of Justice GS Singhvi & Justice AK Ganguly imposed fine of ₹5 crore (US$600,000) on Unitech Wireless, Swan telecom and Tata Teleservices and ₹50 lakh (US$60,000) fine on Loop Telecom, S Tel, Allianz Infratech and Sistema Shyam Tele Services Ltd.[4] The Supreme Court's ruling said the current licences will remain in place for four months, in which time the government should decide fresh norms for issuing licences.[186]

The Supreme Court said in its order that then telecom minister A. Raja "wanted to favour some companies at the cost of the public exchequer" and listed seven steps he took to ensure this happened.[4][187] According to the Supreme Court of India the seven steps were :

  1. After taking over as telecom minister, Raja directed that all applications received for UAS licences should be kept pending till receipt of the Trai's recommendations.[4][187]
  2. The recommendations made by Trai on 28 August 2007, were not placed before the full Telecom Commission which would have included the finance secretary. The notice of the meeting of the Telecom Commission was not given to any of the non-permanent members though Trai's recommendations for allocation of 2G spectrum had serious financial implications and it was therefore necessary for DoT to take the finance ministry's opinion under the Government of India (Transaction of Business) Rules, 1961.[4][187]
  3. The DoT officers who attended the Telecom Commission meeting held on 10 October 2007, had no choice but to approve Trai's recommendations, since they would otherwise have "incurred" Raja's "wrath".[4][187]
  4. Since Cabinet had approved recommendations made by the Group of Ministers, the DoT had to discuss the issue of spectrum pricing with the finance ministry. But, since Raja knew that the finance secretary had objected to the allocation of 2G spectrum at rates fixed in 2001, he did not consult the finance minister or other officials.[4][187]
  5. Raja brushed aside the law minister's suggestion that the matter should be placed before the empowered group of ministers. Also, within hours of the receipt of the suggestion made by the PM in his letter dated 2 November 2007, that keeping in view the inadequacy of spectrum, transparency and fairness should be maintained in allocation of the spectrum, Raja rejected it saying that it would be unfair, discriminatory, arbitrary and capricious to auction spectrum to new applicants because it would not give them a level-playing field. He also introduced a cut-off date of 25 September 2007, for considering applications though only the previous day a DoT press release had said 1 October 2007, would be the last date. This arbitrary action of Raja "though appears to be innocuous was actually intended to benefit some of the real estate firms who did not have any experience in dealing with telecom services and who had made applications only on 24 September 2007, i.e. one day before the cut-off date fixed by the C&IT minister on his own".[4][187]
  6. The cut-off date of 25 September 2007, decided by Raja on 2 November 2007, was not made public till 10 January 2008, and the first-come-first-served principle followed since 2003 was changed by him at the last moment through a press release dated 10 January 2008. "This enabled some of the applicants, who had access either to the minister or DoT officers, get bank drafts prepared towards performance guarantee of about Rs 1,600 crore".[4][187]
  7. "The manner in which the exercise for grant of LoIs to the applicants was conducted on 10 January 2008 leaves no room for doubt that everything was stage managed to favour those who were able to know in advance change in the implementation of the first-come-first-served policy." As a result, some firms which had submitted applications in 2004 or 2006 were pushed down in the priority and those who had applied between August and September 2007 succeeded.[4][187]

Telecom companies affected by cancellation of licenses

The table below shows list of companies whose license were cancelled[188][189]

Name of company Parent group Number of licenses cancelled
Uninor Joint venture between Unitech Group of India and Telenor of Norway Unitech Group 22
Sistema Shyam TeleServices Limited, now MTS India Joint venture between Shyam group of Indian and Sistema of Russia 21
Loop Mobile formerly BPL Mobile Owned by Khaitan Holding Group 21
Videocon Telecommunications Limited Owned by Videocon group of India 21
Etisalat-DB Joint venture between Swan Telecom of India and Etisalat of UAE 15
Idea Cellular Aditya Birla Groupof India (49.05%), Axiata Group Berhad of Malaysia (15%) & Providence Equity(10.6%)of USA 13
S Tel Joint venture between C Sivasankaran of India and Batelco of Bahrain. After the Supreme Court's decision Batelco sold its 42.7% stake to C Sivasankaran company Sky City Foundation Ltd. for $175 million[190] 6
Tata Teleservices Owned by Tata Group of India 3

Aftereffects of Supreme Court's verdict

Response to scam

  • Opposition demands Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) - As soon as the Indian media started citing Comptroller and Auditor General of India's report which pegged the loss at ₹ 1.76 lakh crore, the Indian opposition parties unanimously demanded formation of Joint parliamentary committee (JPC) to investigate 2G scam.[199][200] However the Indian government rejected the demand of opposition.[200] Later when the winter session of parliament began on 9 November 2010, opposition again pressed for (JPC) but once again the demand was rejected.[200] The opposition's demand for (JPC) gained further momentum when Comptroller and Auditor General of India's report was tabled in Parliament on 16 November 2011.[201] The opposition blocked parliament proceedings and again pressed for JPC.[202] With Govt again rejecting the demand there was logjam in parliament.[203]Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Meira Kumar tried to break the logjam but her efforts didn't bear any fruit.[204] Finally the winter session of parliament concluded on 13 December 2010 . The plan was to introduce 22 new bills, take up 23 pending bills for consideration and passing and withdraw three bills but that didn't happen because the parliament was allowed to function for only 9 hours.[205] In February 2011, after resisting the Opposition demand for over three months, the government finally agreed to constitute a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe the 2G spectrum allocation issue. The government announced it formally on 22 February 2011.[206]
  • Jayalalitha accuses M. Karunanidhi - In early November 2010 Jayalalithaa accused the state chief minister M Karunanidhi of protecting A. Raja from corruption charges and called for A. Raja's resignation.[207] By mid November A. Raja resigned.[208]
  • CAG issues show-cause notices - In mid November the comptroller Vinod Rai issued show-cause notices to Unitech, S Tel, Loop Mobile, Datacom (Videocon), and Etisalat to respond to his assertion that all of the 85 licenses granted to these companies did not have the up-front capital required at the time of the application and were in other ways illegal.[209] Some media sources have speculated that these companies will receive large fines but not have their licenses revoked, as they are currently providing some consumer service.[209]

See also

Further reading

  • Swamy, Subramanian (2011). 2G Spectrum Scam. Har-anand Publications Pvt. Ltd. ISBN 9788124116388.

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