2g spectrum scam - wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

8/9/2019 2G Spectrum Scam - Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

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2/8/2015 2G spectrum scam - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2G_spectrum_scam

2G spectrum scamFrom Wiki pedia, the free encyclopedia

The 2G spectrum scam was a major telecommunications scam and political scandal in which politicians

and government officials of India illegally undercharged mobile telephone companies for frequency

allocation licenses, which they then used to create 2G spectrum subscriptions for cell phones. The

difference between the money collected and the money that the law mandated to be collected was estimate

by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India at 1766.45 billion (US$28 billion), based on 3G and

BWA spectrum auction prices in 2010.[1] In a chargesheet filed on 2 April 2011 by the investigating

agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the loss was pegged at 309845.5 million

(US$4.9 billion)[2] whereas on 19 August 2011 in a reply to CBI, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of

India (TRAI) said that the government had gained over 30 billion (US$470 million) by selling 2G

spectrum.[2] Similarly Kapil Sibal, the Minister of Communications & IT, claimed in 2011, during a press

conference, that "zero loss" was caused by distributing 2G licenses on a first-come-first-served basis.[3] It

has to be pointed out, however, that "zero loss" can simply mean that frequencies were not sold for less tha

cost. The phrase indicates nothing about the legitimacy of the sale.

All the speculations concerning profit, loss, and no-loss were put to rest on 2 February 2012 when the

Supreme Court of India delivered its judgement on a public interest litigation (PIL) which was directly

related to the 2G spectrum scam. The Supreme Court declared the allotment of spectrum "unconstitutional

and arbitrary" and quashed all 122 licenses issued in 2008 during the tenure of A. R aja (Minister of

Communications & IT from 2007 to 2009), the main official accused 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 zero loss theory was further demolished[6] on 3

August 2012, when following the directions of the Supreme Court, the Government of India revised the

base price for 5 MHz 2G spectrum auctions to 140 billion (US$2.2 billion), making the value of spectrum

amount to roughly 28 billion (US$440 million) per MHz, a figure close to the CAG's estimate of

33.5 billion (US$530 million) per MHz.[7][8]

The original plan for awarding licences was to follow a first-come-first-served policy to applicants. A. Raj

manipulated the rules so that the first-come-first-served policy would kick in – not on the basis of who

applied first for a license but of whom com plied with the conditions first.[9] On 10 January 2008, compani

were given just a few hours to provide their Letters of Intent and cheques. Those allegedly tipped off by

Raja were waiting with their cheques and other documents. Some of their executives were sent to jail alon

with the minister.[9]

In 2011, Time magazine listed the scam at number two on their "Top 10 Abuses of Power" list (just behind

the Watergate scandal).[10][11][12]

Contents

1 Background

2 Parties accused of Involvement

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watergate_scandalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Communications_and_Information_Technology_(India)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Court_of_Indiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Interest_Litigationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecom_Regulatory_Authority_of_Indiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Bureau_of_Investigationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Telecom_Spectrum_Auctionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chargesheethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Telecom_Spectrum_Auctionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Telecom_Spectrum_Auctionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comptroller_and_Auditor_General_of_Indiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Telecom_Spectrum_Auctionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Telecom_Spectrum_Auctionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Telecom_Spectrum_Auctionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_allocationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2Ghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_spectrumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_allocationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_allocationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_allocationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_telephonehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_allocationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_telephonehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_scandalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Interest_Litigationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chargesheethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Communications_and_Information_Technology_(India)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-come-first-servedhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Bureau_of_Investigationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comptroller_and_Auditor_General_of_Indiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecom_Regulatory_Authority_of_Indiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Court_of_Indiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_spectrumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2Ghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watergate_scandalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Telecom_Spectrum_Auctionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Communications_and_Information_Technology_(India)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._Rajahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_allocationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_(magazine)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confidence_trickhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapil_Sibal


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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2G_spectrum_scam 2

2.1 Politicians accused

2.1.1 A. Raja

2.1.2 M. K. Kanimozhi

2.1.3 Pramod Mahajan

2.2 Bureaucrats accused

2.2.1 Siddharth Behura

2.2.2 RK Chandolia

2.3 Corporate executives accused

2.3.1 Sanjay Chandra

2.3.2 Gautam Doshi

2.3.3 Hari Nair

2.3.4 Surendra Pipara

2.3.5 Vinod Goenka

2.3.6 Shahid Balwa

2.3.7 Asif Balwa (younger brother of Shahid Balwa)

2.3.8 Rajiv Agarwal

2.3.9 Sharath Kumar

2.3.10 Ravi Ruia

2.3.11 Anshuman Ruia

2.3.12 Vikas Saraf

2.3.13 IP Khaitan

2.3.14 Kiran Khaitan2.4 Film and entertainment persons accused

2.4.1 Karim Morani

2.5 Corporations accused

2.5.1 Unitech Wireless

2.5.2 Reliance Telecom

2.5.3 Swan Telecom

2.6 Media role

3 Chronology of events and investigation

3.1 2007

3.2 2008

3.3 2009

3.4 2010

3.5 2011

3.6 2012


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3.7 2013

4 Licenses quashed

4.1 Telecom companies affected by cancellation of licenses

4.2 Aftereffects of Supreme Court's verdict

5 Aircel-Maxis deal controversy

6 Response to scam

7 Joint Parliamentary Committee

8 See also

9 References

10 External links

Background

India is divided into 22 telecommunications zones with 281 zonal licenses in the market. [13] In 2008, 122new second generation (2G) Unified Access Service (UAS) licenses were given to telecom companies at

the 2001 price and on a first-come-first-served basis. According to the charge sheet filed by the 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 the Comptroller and Auditor General of India

(CAG) says that several licenses were issued to firms with no prior experience in the telecom sector or tha

were ineligible or had suppressed relevant facts.[14] In November 2007 former 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 the license fee was properly revised. Raja wrote

back to the prime minister rejecting many of his recommendations.[15]

In the same month the Ministry of Finance wrote a letter to the Department of Telecommunications (DOT) raising concerns over the

procedure adopted by it,[15] but the DOT went ahead with its plan for giving 2G licenses. It advanced the

cut-off date from 1 October 2007 to 25 September.[15] Later on the same day, the DoT posted an

announcement on its website saying those who applied between 3:30 and 4:30 pm on that very day would

be issued licenses in accordance with this policy.[15] Companies like Unitech and Swan Telecom got

licenses without any telecom experience.[16]

Swan Telecom got the license even though it did not meet eligibility criteria.[16] Swan got a license for

15.37 billion (US$240 million) and then sold a 45% stake to the UAE-based company Etisalat for

42 billion (US$660 million).[16] Unitech Wireless, a subsidiary of the Unitech Group, got a license for

16.61 billion (US$260 million) and later sold a 60% stake for 62 billion (US$970 million) to the Norway

based company Telenor.[16]

Following is the list of the companies that received 2G licenses during the tenure of A. Raja as Telecom

Minister.[17][18] (The licenses were later quashed by Supreme Court)[19][20]

Name of Telecom regions for whichNumber

of Remarks

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Finance_(India)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitech_Grouphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comptroller_and_Auditor_General_of_Indiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Department_of_Telecommunicationshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telenorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_Indiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._Rajahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manmohan_Singhhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2Ghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Department_of_Telecommunicationshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Bureau_of_Investigationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emirates_Telecommunications_Corporation


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Company license was granted licensegranted

Adonis ProjectsPvt. Ltd.

Haryana, Himachal Pradesh,Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab,Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh(East)

6

Adonis Projects, Nahan Properties, AskaProjects, Volga Properties, AzareProperties & Hudson Properties wereacquired by Unitech. UnitechInfrastructure and Unitech Builders &Estates were already subsidiaries of Unitech Group. So in 2008 Unitech had 222G licenses. Later in the same year

Norway-based company Telenor boughtmajority stake in the telecom companyfrom the Unitech Group. Now it offersservices under Uninor brand holding 22

pan India licences.

NahanProperties Pvt.Ltd.

Assam, Bihar, North East,Orissa, Uttar Pradesh (East),West Bengal

6

Aska ProjectsLtd.

Andhra Pradesh, Kerala,Karnataka

3

Volga PropertiesPvt. Ltd.

Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh,Maharashtra

3

Azure PropertiesLtd.

Kolkata 1

HudsonProperties

Delhi 1

Unitech Builders& Estates Pvt.Ltd.

Tamil Nadu (includingChennai)

1

UnitechInfrastructuresPvt. Ltd.

Mumbai 1

Loop TelecomPvt. Ltd.

Bihar, Gujarat, HimachalPradesh, Kerala, Kolkata,Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh (East), Uttar Pradesh(West), West Bengal, AndhraPradesh, Delhi, Haryana,Karnataka, Maharashtra,Odisha(Orissa), Tamil Nadu(including Chennai), Assam,Jammu & Kashmir, MadhyaPradesh, North East

21

DatacomSolutions Pvt.Ltd.

Andhra Pradesh, Assam,Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana,Himachal Pradesh, Jammu &Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala,Kolkata, Madhya Pradesh,Maharashtra, North East,Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil

Nadu (including Chennai),Uttar Pradesh (East), Uttar Pradesh West, West Bengal,

21 Operates under brand name Videocon

Telecommunications Limited

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loop_Mobilehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitech_Grouphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telenorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitech_Grouphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uninorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitech_Grouphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Videocon_Telecommunications_Limitedhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitech_Group


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Delhi, Mumbai

Shyam Telelink Limited

Madhya Pradesh, Kerala,Kolkata, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh (East), Uttar Pradesh(West), West Bengal, AndhraPradesh, Delhi, Haryana,Karnataka, Maharashtra,

Odisha, Tamil Nadu(including Chennai), Assam,Jammu & Kashmir, NorthEast

17

Shyam Telelink Limited & ShyaniTelelink Limited operate together withtheir combined 21 licenses. During late2008 Russia-based group Sistema boughtmajority stake in the telecom company andnow they operate under brand name MTSIndia.

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

Swan Telecom was subsidiary of RelianceTelecom, set up to bypass the single-company single-license rule that was in

place. In 2008, Swan Telecom mergeditself with Allianz Infratech (P) Ltd.During late 2008 Abu Dhabi's Etisalat

bought about 45 percent of the companyand renamed it to Etisalat DB Telecom

Allianz Infratech(P) Ltd.

Bihar, Madhya Pradesh 2

Idea Cellular

Assam, Punjab, Karnataka,Jammu and Kashmir, NorthEast, Kolkata, West Bengal,

Odisha(Orissa), Tamil Nadu(including Chennai)

9

Idea Cellular bought SpiceCommunications Ltd. in 2008 for anamount of 27 billion

(US$420 million).[21] So out of 122spectrum licenses sold in 2008 IdeaCellular owns 13 licenses. However of the13 licenses, only 7 of the licenses are inuse by the company and the rest are

overlapping licenses.[22]

SpiceCommunicationsLtd.

Delhi, Andhra Pradesh,Haryana, Maharashtra

4

S TelAssam, Jammu and Kashmir,Odisha(Orissa), North East,Bihar, Himachal Pradesh

6

In January 2009, BahrainTelecommunications signed a deal with STel to buy 49% shares in S Tel for $225million. C Sivasankaran owns the

remaining (51%) share.[23][24] In May2009, Sahara Group bought 11.7% stake in

S Tel[25]

TataTeleservices

Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, North East

3

In late 2008 promoters of TataTeleservices sold 26% equity stake to aJapanese telecom giant NTT Docomo for about 130.7 billion (US$2.1 billion) or anenterprise value of 502.69 billion

(US$7.9 billion).[26]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idea_Cellularhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S_Telhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTT_Docomohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahrain_Telecommunicationshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahara_Grouphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tata_Teleserviceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swan_Telecomhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idea_Cellularhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sistemahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tata_Teleserviceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spice_Telecomhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emirates_Telecommunications_Corporationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idea_Cellularhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_Sivasankaranhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S_Telhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTS_Indiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spice_Telecomhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S_Tel


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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 that were buying the licenses and media professionals who

mediated between the politicians and the corporations.

Politicians accused

Politicians named as accused in the chargesheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the

Directorate General of Income Tax Investigation in the Special CBI Court, allegations levelled against them

by CBI and charges framed against them by the Special CBI court.[27][28][29][30]

A. Raja

Political career – Political party DMK, four 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 (Environmen

& Forests – 2004), former Union Cabinet Minister (Communication and Information Technology –

2007 & 2009)[31][32][33][34]

Allegation – In a joint investigation report prepared by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) an

Income Tax Department, the agencies alleged that A. Raja could have received 30 billion

(US$470 million) as a bribe for bringing forward the cut-off date for applications for spectrum from

the initial 1 October 2007 to 25 September 2007.[35][36] The deadline switch eliminated many

applications, enabling Raja to favour a few with spectrum.

[35][36]

The agencies also alleged that heused bank accounts under his wife's name in Mauritius and Seychelles to channelise the kickbacks h

received.[37] A chargesheet filed by CBI alleged that Raja conspired with the accused, subverted the

first-come-first-served (FCFS) policy and arbitrarily redefined it to ensure that Swan and Unitech go

2G licences.[38] He did not auction the 2G spectrum or adopt any other market-determined

methodology to determine its real valuation, but instead benchmarked it at a rate discovered in 2001

when the telecom sector was at a nascent stage.[38]

Charges – Criminal breach of trust by a public servant under section 409, criminal conspiracy under

section 120-B, cheating under section 420 and forgery under sections 468 and 471. Booked under th

Prevention of Corruption Act for accepting illegal gratification.[27][39][40]

Status – Taken into custody (arrested) by CBI on 2 February 2011[41] On 9 May 2012 he applied fo

bail for the first time since his arrest.[42][43] and was granted bail on 15 May 2012[44][45][46] As of

August 2012, his trial was being conducted in Special CBI Court.[47]

M. K. Kanimozhi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Bureau_of_Investigationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dravida_Munnetra_Kazhagamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nilgiris_(Lok_Sabha_constituency)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Bureau_of_Investigationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directorate_General_of_Income_Tax_Investigationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prevention_of_Corruption_Act,_1988


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Political career – Daughter of five-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 the Indian Parliament).[48][49]

Allegation – According to the chargesheet filed by CBI, Kanimozhi has a 20% stake in family owne

Kalaignar TV; her step-mother Dayalu Ammal owns a 60% stake in the same channel. [50] CBI alleg

that Kanimozhi was an "active brain" behind the channel's operations[50] and that she worked along

with former telecom minister A. Raja to get DB Realty promoter Shahid Balwa to circuitously route

2 billion (US$31 million) to Kalaignar TV.[51] According to CBI, Kanimozhi was in regular touch

with A Raja regarding the launching of Kalaignar TV channel and its other pending works.[51] The

CBI alleged that A Raja further pursued the cause of Kalaignar TV, not only to get the company

registered by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, but also to get it in the DTH operator

TATA Sky's bouquet. She was also summoned by the Income Tax Department, Chennai for alleged

tax evasion charges.[51]

Charges – Criminal conspiracy to cause criminal breach of trust by a public servant, criminal

conspiracy under section 120-B, cheating under section 420 and forgery under sections 468 and 471

Booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act.[27][39]

Status – Taken into custody (arrested) by CBI on 20 May 2011.[52][53] Granted bail on 28 Novembe

2011 after spending 188 days in judicial custody.[54][55] As of August 2012, her trial was being

conducted in Special CBI Court.[47]

Pramod Mahajan

The CBI decided to include the name of the late Pramod Mahajan in a separate column of the charge sheet

it was soon to file against three cellular companies and former officials in connection with alleged

irregularities in spectrum allocation during the NDA regime, causing a loss of Rs 5.08 billion to the

exchequer.[56]

Bureaucrats accused

Bureaucrats named as accused in the chargesheet filed by CBI in the Special CBI Court, allegations levelle

against them by CBI and charges framed against them by the Special CBI court. [27][28][29][30]

Siddharth Behura

Designation – Telecom Secretary when licenses were granted.[27][57]

Allegation – According to the chargesheet filed by the CBI, Behura conspired with A. Raja and

several other accused. The CBI alleged that when the application deadline time was declared to be

between 3:30 pm to 4:30 pm, Behura shut counters to physically block out other telecom

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karunanidhihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DB_Realtyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalaignar_TVhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prevention_of_Corruption_Act,_1988http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._Rajahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dravida_Munnetra_Kazhagamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_To_Homehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamil_Naduhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Information_and_Broadcasting_(India)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalaignar_TVhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TATA_Skyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shahid_Balwa


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companies.[16]

Charges – Criminal breach of trust by a public servant under section 409, criminal conspiracy under

section 120-B, cheating under section 420 and forgery under sections 468 and 471. Booked under th

Prevention of Corruption Act for accepting illegal gratification.[27][58]

Status – Taken into custody (arrested) by CBI on 2 February 2011.[41] Granted bail on 9 May

2012.[59][60] As of August 2012, his trial was being conducted in Special CBI Court.[47] Deposing

before JPC on 10 July 2012, Behura blamed A Raja, the then telecom Minister, for most of the

decisions related to 2G spectrum auctions.[61]

RK Chandolia

Designation – Raja's private secretary when licenses were granted.[27][62]

Allegation – According to the chargesheet filed by CBI, Chandolia, like Behura, conspired with A.

Raja and several other accused. The agency alleged that when the application deadline time was

declared to be between 3:30 pm to 4:30 pm, Chandolia joined Behura in shutting counters to

physically block other telecom companies.[16]


conspiracy under section 120 B, cheating under section 420 and forgery under sections 468 and 471

Booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act[27]

Status – Taken into custody (arrested) by CBI on 2 February 2011.[41] Granted bail by the special

CBI court on 1 December 2011, but on 2 December 2011 the High Court took suo motu notice of

newspaper reports of the bail granted to Chandolia and stayed it.[63] Chandolia appealed against Hig

Court order in Supreme Court and on 9 May 2012 Supreme Court of India upheld the bail granted to

RK Chandolia.[64] As of August 2012, his trial was being conducted in Special CBI Court.[47]

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.[27][28][29][30]

Sanjay Chandra

Designation – Former MD, Unitech Wireless[27]


conspiracy under section 120-B, cheating under section 420 & forgery under sections 468 and 471.


Allegation – Ex-CBI prosecutor AK Singh was implicated in a taped conversation, sharing legal

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Bureau_of_Investigationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prevention_of_Corruption_Act,_1988http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prevention_of_Corruption_Act,_1988http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prevention_of_Corruption_Act,_1988http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uninor


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strategy and secret information with the accused, Chandra.[65][66]

Status – Taken into custody by CBI on 20 April 2011,[67][68] granted bail on 24 November 2011.[69]

As of August 2012, trial is being conducted in Special CBI Court.[47]

Gautam Doshi

Designation – Group MD, Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group[27]




Status – Taken into custody by CBI on 20 April 2011,[67] granted bail on 24 November 2011.[69] As

of August 2012, trial is being conducted in Special CBI Court.[47]

Hari Nair

Designation – Senior vice-president, Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group[27]






Surendra Pipara

Designation – Senior vice- President, Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group[27]






Vinod Goenka

Designation – Promoter and managing director, DB Realty & Swan Telecom[27]


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 [27]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DB_Realtyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prevention_of_Corruption_Act,_1988http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prevention_of_Corruption_Act,_1988http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reliance_Anil_Dhirubhai_Ambani_Grouphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prevention_of_Corruption_Act,_1988http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reliance_Anil_Dhirubhai_Ambani_Grouphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prevention_of_Corruption_Act,_1988http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swan_Telecomhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reliance_Anil_Dhirubhai_Ambani_Group


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Shahid Balwa

Designation – Promoter, DB Realty & Swan Telecom[27]

Charges – Criminal conspiracy to cause criminal breach of trust by a public servant Criminalconspiracy 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. [27]

Status – Taken into custody by CBI on 8 February 2011,[70] granted bail on 29 November 2011.[71]

As of August 2012, trial is being conducted in Special CBI Court.[47]

Asif Balwa (younger brother of Shahid Balwa)

Designation – Director, Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables[27]


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[27]

Status – Taken into custody by CBI on 29 March 2011,[72] granted bail on 28 November 2011.[73] A


Rajiv Agarwal

Designation – Director, Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables[27]


conspiracy under section 120-B, cheating under section 420, forgery under sections 468 and 471,


Status – Taken into custody by CBI on 29 March 2011,[72] granted bail on 28 November 2011.[73] A


Sharath Kumar

Designation – managing director, Kalaignar TV[27]


conspiracy under section 120-B, cheating under section 420, forgery under sections 468 and 471 &


Status – Taken into custody by CBI on 20 May 2011,[74] granted bail on 28 November 2011.[75] As

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prevention_of_Corruption_Act,_1988http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swan_Telecomhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prevention_of_Corruption_Act,_1988http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DB_Realtyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prevention_of_Corruption_Act,_1988http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalaignar_TVhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prevention_of_Corruption_Act,_1988


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Code.[76][77]

Status – Not taken into custody yet.[78] As of August 2012, trial is being conducted in Special CBI

Court.[47]

Film and entertainment persons accused

Karim Morani

Designation – (Promoter and director, Cineyug Films)[27]

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 Balw

to transfer illegal gratification[79] of 2 billion (US$31 million) to Kalaignar TV of which Kanimozh

was a director.[79] According to the chargesheet, Shahid Balwa and Vinod Goenka, promoters of DB

Realty transferred 2092.5 million (US$33 million) to Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables of which

Shahid Balwa's younger brother Asif Balwa was a director.[79][80] Kusegaon Fruits & Vegetables the

transferred a sum of 2 billion (US$31 million) to Cineyug Films whose promoter Karim Morani

transferred it to Kalaignar TV[79]


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 [27]

Status – Taken into custody by CBI on 30 May 2011,[81] granted bail on 28 November 2011.[75] As


Corporations accused

Companies named in the chargesheet filed by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and charges framed

against them.[27][28][29][30]

Unitech Wireless

Charges – Criminal conspiracy to cause criminal breach of trust by a public servant, criminalconspiracy under section 120-B, cheating under section 420 & forgery under sections 468 and 471.

Booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act.[27]

Status – As of August 2012, trial is being conducted in Special CBI Court.[47]

Reliance Telecom


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conspiracy under section 120-B, cheating under section 420, forgery under sections 468 and 471.



Swan Telecom

Charges – Criminal conspiracy to cause criminal breach of trust by a public servant, criminalconspiracy under section 120-B, cheating under section 420, forgery under sections 468 and 471.



Other companies named in the chargesheet are:[82][83][84]

Loop Telecom Pvt Ltd

Loop Mobile India LtdEssar Tele Holding

Essar (Parent group of Essar Tele Holding)

Media role

Media sources such as OPEN and Outlook reported that two senior journalists Barkha Dutt (group editor o

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 appointed as

the telecom minister.

[85]

The two magazines made public the telephone conversations between Nira RadiaBarkha Dutt & Vir Sanghvi.[86][87] Radia's phones were being tapped by the Income Tax Department.

Critics allege that Barkha Dutt and Vir Sanghvi knew about the nexus between the government and the

media industry but still they supported this corrupt activity and suppressed news reporting the discovery of

the corrupt practice.[85]

Chronology of events and investigation

The Centre for Public Interest Litigation filed the first petition against the Union of India for irregularities

in awarding 2G spectrum licenses. 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. [88]

2007

May 2007: A Raja takes over as Telecom Minister.[89]

August 2007: Process of allotment of 2G spectrum for telecom along with Universal Access Service

(UAS) Licences initiated by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).

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25 September 2007: Telecom Ministry issues press note fixing deadline for application as 1 Octobe

2007.

1 October 2007: DoT receives 575 applications for UAS licences of 46 companies.[90]

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.

2008

10 January 2008: DoT decides to issue licences on first-come-first-serve basis, advancing the cut-o

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.[91][92]

2008: Swan Telecom, Unitech and Tata Teleservices sell off a part of their stakes at much higher

rates to Etisalat, Telenor and DoCoMo, respectively.[93][94][95]

2009

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.[96]

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: Directorate General of Income Tax Investigation raids DoT offices.[97][98][99]

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

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2010

13 March 2010: SC upholds Delhi HC verdict on cut off date advancement as illegal[100][101]

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.[102]

6 May 2010: Telephonic conversation between Raja and Niira Radia taped by the Directorate

General of Income Tax Investigation made public by the media.[103]

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 Subramanian 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 70000 crore (US$11 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: Directorate General of Income Tax Investigation 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.[104]

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.[105][106]

10 November 2010: CAG submits report on 2G spectrum to government stating loss of

176000 crore (US$28 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 [107][108]

15 November 2010: Kapil Sibal given additional charge of Telecom Ministry.[109][110]

20 November 2010: Affidavit on behalf of PM filed in Supreme Court. Rejects charge of inaction on

Swamy's complaint.[111][112][113]

22 November 2010: CBI and Directorate General of Income Tax Investigation 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.

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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.[114]

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 from the Directorate General of

Income Tax Investigation.

2 December 2010: SC comes down heavily on Raja for bypassing and over-ruling 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-servewas 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: Directorate General of Income Tax Investigation submits report. Says money tra

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 prosecut

in 2G spectrum case.

15 December 2010: Swamy mentions in complaint that Raja favoured "ineligible" private companie

Swan Telecom Pvt Ltd and Unitech Wireless Ltd in allocating the spectrum.

16 December 2010: SC decides to monitor the CBI inquiry[115][116][117]

2011

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 o

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 Siddharth Behura and Raja's former Personal

Secretary R K Chandolia arrested and next day they were remanded in CBI custody.

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citing that there are certain prima facie evidences against the accused and they may be in a position t

influence the 2G probe[133][134]

20 June 2011: SC rejects Kanimozhi's bail plea[135][136][137]

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)[138][139]

30 August 2011: Directorate General of Income Tax Investigation orders freezing of accounts,

attachment of properties worth 223 crore (US$35 million) of five companies mainly related to DB

Realty under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) [140][141]

1 September 2011: ED files status report in Supreme Court, says there have been FEMA violation o

100 billion[142]

15 September 2011: Swamy pleads before special CBI court that P Chidambaram should be made

co-accused[143]

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.[144][145]

9 October 2011: CBI files FIR against Maran and his brother in Aircel-Maxis deal. [146][147][148]

10 October 2011: SC reserves order against Subramanian Swamy's plea for a probe into Home

Minister Chidambaram's role in the 2G scam.[149][150] On the same day CBI books former telecom

minister and DMK leader Dayanidhi Maran and his brother and media baron Kalanithi Maran[151]

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.[152][153]

3 November 2011: Special CBI court dismisses bail pleas of all the 8 applicants (including

Kanimozhi)[154]

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[155][156]

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.[157][158]

11 November 2011: Trial of the 17 accused begins in Patiala House special CBI court.[159][160]

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[161][162]

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22 November 2011: The Special CBI court shifts the trial to the Tihar Jail complex following a Delh

high court order [163][164]

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.[165]

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. [166][167]

29 November 2011: The special CBI court grants bail to Shahid Balwa citing principle of parity tha

SC and HC have already granted bail to 10 other accused [168][169]

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[170][171]

2 December 2011: Taking a suo motu cognizance, HC stays bail given by trial court to R K

Chandolia[172]

7 December 2011: SC stays HC's suo motu order against Chandolia's bail[173][174]

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[175][176]

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 KiraKhaitan (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. [177][178]

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"[179]

2012

2 February: The Supreme court of India cancelled all 122 licenses allotted by A Raja and imposed

Rs 50 million (US$1,018,122) fine on Unitech, Swan and Tata Teleservices. It also imposed a fine o

Rs 5 million 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 Chidambaram should be made co-

accused in 2G scam.[180][181]

4 February: 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. [182]

8 February: ED and Directorate General of Income Tax Investigation registers money laundering

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case against DMK leader Dayanidhi Maran[183] and his brother Kalanithi Maran for allegedly

receiving illegal gratification of about 5.5 billion in the Aircel-Maxis deal.[184]

9 February: Essar Group and Loop Telecom approach Supreme Court against its trial before Specia

CBI Court in 2G case.[185][186]

15 February: 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 fo

their alleged involvement in a 2G spectrum scam.[187]

22 February: CBI lodges strong protest with CVC on the "dirty tricks" of certain Directorate Gener

of Income Tax Investigation to intimidate and threaten 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.[188]

23 February: 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.[189]

2 March: Govt of India files review petition in Supreme Court seeking partial review of the court's

February 2012 order which had quashed 122 licenses.[190] 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.[191] On the sam

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.[192]

4 April: Other than Government of India's partial review petition Supreme Court dismissed all 10review petitions.[193] The telecom companies whose review petition was dismissed include Videoco

Telecommunications Ltd, S Tel Ltd, Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd, Tata Teleservices Ltd, Unitec

Wireless (Tamil Nadu) Pvt Ltd, Etisalat DB Telecom Pvt Ltd and Idea Cellular Ltd.[193]

12 April: Government filed Presidential reference in Supreme Court seeking the court's opinion on

various issues arising from its 2 February 2012 judgement[194]

9 May: Supreme Court granted bail to Siddharth Behura[195] and upheld RK Chandolia's bail.[196] O

the same day A Raja also applied for bail.[197]

15 May: Bail granted to A Raja with a condition to get court's permission for visiting Tamil

Nadu[44][45] He walked out of Tihar jail after 15 months.[198]

6 June: Special CBI Court granted permission for Raja to visit Tamil Nadu [199]

3 July: Briefing the Joint parliamentary committee probing the scam, ED claimed that it has enough

evidence to convict DMK chief Karunanidhi's wife and daughter Kanimozhi.[200]

31 July: Former DoT senior official AK Srivastava confirmed CBI's allegation in his testimony

saying A Raja as telecom minister was the final authority for taking decisions on policy matters. He

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in his statement to CBI earlier had mentioned that Raja had recorded the cut—off date of 1 October

2007 for receiving applications for grant of the 2G spectrum licences on a DoT file. [201]

1 August: The Supreme Court, hearing the Presidential reference on the '2G judgment,' said

implementation of first served (FCFS) policy for allotment of spectrum was flawed. The Chief Justic

of India said, "The moment you change the criterion and distort the policy, it ceases to be FCFS

policy. If you insist on making payment at the last minute after changing the cut-off date, then it is n

FCFS, it is an out-of-turn policy." [202]

3 August: According to the directions of the Supreme Court, Govt of India revised the spectrum pric

to 140 billion (US$2.2 billion)[7] which demolished the "zero loss theory" and further established

1760 billion (US$28 billion) revenue loss calculated by CAG.[6]

9 August: The Government again sought extension of time from the Supreme Court till 12 Novembe

for commencing auction of 2G spectrum licences. The court, while quashing 123 licences in Februar

2012, had given four months for their fresh auction which was extended till 31 August.[203]

11 Nov: The daily trial in Justice OP Saini's special CBI court completes 1-year. Deposition of 77

witnesses out of a total of 154 witnesses complete.[204]

2013

20 April: Senior MP of the Communist Party of India Gurudas Dasgupta accused Manmohan Singh

of "dereliction of duty", alleging that the PM was fully aware of irregularities in dispensing of

telecom licences. He pointed out that in a letter in November 2007 Kamal Nath had advised the

Prime Minister on setting up of a Group of Ministers for allocation of spectrum. MP Dasgupta alsoreferred to note from then Cabinet Secretary, stating the value of licences of spectrum should be

increased.[205][206]

23 April: In his 112-page written statement to the JPC, A. Raja said that he personally met Prime

Minister Manmohan Singh and P. Chidambaram several times between November 2007 and July

2008 – the period when the scam was perpetrated – to keep him informed of all 2G-related decisions

and the Prime Minister agreed with him.[207]

Licenses quashed

On 2 February 2012 Supreme Court of India delivered judgement on petitions filed by Subramanian Swam

and Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) which had challenged allotment of 2G licenses granted in

2008.[208] The Supreme Court quashed all 122 spectrum licences granted during the tenure of former

communications minister A Raja.[208] and described the allocation of 2G spectrum as "unconstitutional and

arbitrary".[209] The bench of Justice GS Singhvi & Justice AK Ganguly imposed fine of 50 million

(US$790,000) on Unitech Wireless, Swan telecom and Tata Teleservices and 5 million (US$79,000) fine

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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.[210]

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][211] Accordin

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][211]

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][211]

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][211]

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][211]

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 i

his letter dated 2 November 2007, that keeping in view the inadequacy of spectrum, transparency an

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 befor

the cut-off date fixed by the C&IT minister on his own". [4][211]

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

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTS_Indiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._Rajahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loop_Telecomhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S_Tel


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applicants, who had access either to the minister or DoT officers, get bank drafts prepared towards

performance guarantee of about Rs 16 billion".[4][211]

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][211]

Telecom companies affected by cancellation of licenses

The table below shows list of companies whose license were cancelled[212][213]

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 ShyamTeleServicesLimited, now MTSIndia

Joint venture between Shyam group of Indian and Sistema of Russia 21

Loop Mobileformerly BPLMobile

Owned by Khaitan Holding Group 21

VideoconTelecommunicationsLimited

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[214]

6

Tata Teleservices Owned by Tata Group of India 3

Aftereffects of Supreme Court's verdict

Batelco quits India – Batelco, the Bahrain telecommunications company holding 42.7% stake in S

Tel declared that it has agreed to sell its entire holding to Indian partner Sky City Foundation Ltd for

65.8 million Bahraini dinar ($174.5 million).[214][215][216]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sistema_Shyam_TeleServices_Limitedhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Videoconhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S_Telhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S_Telhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aditya_Birla_Grouphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitech_Grouphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Providence_Equity_Partnershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uninorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batelcohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loop_Mobilehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_Sivasankaranhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Videocon_Telecommunications_Limitedhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batelcohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tata_Grouphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitech_Grouphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axiata_Group_Berhadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tata_Teleserviceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swan_Telecomhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTS_Indiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_Sivasankaranhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telenorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S_Tel#Aftermathhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idea_Cellularhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emirates_Telecommunications_Corporationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batelco


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2/8/2015 2G spectrum scam - Wi kipedia, the free encyclopedia


Telenor terminates agreement and sues Unitech – On 21 February 2012 Telenor, majority

stakeholder in Uninor, terminated its agreement with its Indian partner Unitech and sued it seeking

"indemnity and compensation".[217][218][219]

Etisalat sues Shahid Balwa and Vinod Goenka – On 23 February 2012 Etisalat of the Etasalat-DB

Telecom sued Shahid Balwa and Vinod Goenka, promoters of its Indian partner DB Realty for fraud

and misrepresentation.[220][221][222]

Aircel-Maxis deal controversy

On 6 June 2011, former Aircel Chief C Sivasankaran complained to the CBI that he was not given telecom

licence and Dayanidhi Maran (the then telecom minister) forced him to sell his company Aircel to

Malaysia-based Maxis Communications group owned by T Ananda Krishnan. The licences were allegedly

issued only after the deal was struck. Sivasankaran also alleged that Maran brothers Dayanidhi and

Kalanidhi got kickbacks in the form of investments made by the Maxis group through Astro network in Su

TV Network (owned by Maran family).[146][147][148] Dayanidhi Maran was forced to resign due to these

allegations on 7 July 2011.[223]

Subsequently on 10 Oct 2011, the CBI registered a case and raided various properties owned by Marans.

CBI sources said they could not find any evidence of coercion in the sale of Aircel, but they did find

substantial evidence that Maran had favoured the takeover of the company by Maxis and deliberately

delayed Sivasankar's files.[146][147][148] On 8 February 2012, ED registered money laundering case against

Dayanidhi Maran[183] and his brother Kalanithi Maran for allegedly receiving illegal gratification of about

5.5 billion in the Aircel-Maxis deal.[184]

During the CBI probe, Sivasankaran told that the Maran brothers had allegedly issued life threats forcinghim to sell his 74% stake in Aircel to Maxis. He provided the CBI a list of over 10 witnesses, to prove his

allegations. In September 2012, CBI said that it has finished the investigations within India and is waiting

for response of a Letters Rogatory sent to Malaysia and a questionnaire sent to T Ananda Krishnan, after

which it will file a chargesheet.[224]

Dr Subramanian Swamy alleged that in 2006, a company controlled by then Minister of Finance P

Chidambaram's son Karti got five per cent stake in Sivasankaran's Aircel to get part of Rs 40 billion that th

Maxis Communications paid for 74 per cent stake in Aircel. He alleged that Mr Chidambaram withheld the

FIPB clearance to the deal till his son got the five per cent shares in Siva's company.[225] Subsequently the

issue was raised on multiple times in Parliament of India by the opposition which demanded resignation ofMr P Chidambaram.[226] He and the government denied all the allegations.[227] However, according to The

Pioneer and India Today reports, documents show that approval to the FDI proposal was indeed delayed

about 7 months by P Chidambaram.[225][228][229]

Response to scam

Opposition demands Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) – As soon as the Indian media starte

citing Comptroller and Auditor General of India's report which pegged the loss at 1.76 trillion (sho

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_and_short_scaleshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enforcement_Directoratehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_and_short_scaleshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxis_Communicationshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telenorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swan_Telecomhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subramanian_Swamyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament_of_Indiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinod_Goenkahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircelhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letters_Rogatoryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etisalathttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_TV_Networkhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitech_Grouphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DB_Realtyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shahid_Balwahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P_Chidambaramhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pioneer_(Indian_newspaper)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalanithi_Maranhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minister_of_Finance_(India)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uninor#Controversieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_parliamentary_committeehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P_Chidambaramhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India_Todayhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P_Chidambaramhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_direct_investmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uninorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxis_Communicationshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comptroller_and_Auditor_General_of_Indiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chargesheethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinod_Goenkahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shahid_Balwahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emirates_Telecommunications_Corporation


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also cited the Supreme Court judgement on 2 February 2012 that the actions of Mr. Raja and officers

of the Department of Telecom were "wholly arbitrary, capricious and contrary to the public interest,

apart from being violative of the doctrine of equality. The material produced for the quote showed

that the Minister for C&IT wanted to favour some companies at the cost of the public exchequer."

The CAG also said that its estimation of loss of 1.76-lakh crore was justified as the TRAI's collation

of reserve price for 2G spectrum as of May 2012 was approximately same as the calculation in CAG

report of November 2010 on 2G scam. It also highlights that the TRAI had recommended a reserve

price of 2G spectrum of Rs. 180 billion for a pan-India licence for 5 MHz spectrum which was high

than the 3G value of Rs. 167.50 billion for 5 MHz used by the CAG for arriving at a [loss] figure of

1,760 billion. It concluded by saying that it was only examining the "implementation of policy" and

that the policy making was government's prerogative.[244]

Joint Parliamentary Committee

The JPC will consist of 30 members out of which 15 will be from the UPA and 15 from the Opposition.

The Committee will have 20 members from the Lok Sabha and 10 Rajya Sabha MPs.

Among the Lok Sabha MPs who will be part of the committee, eight are from Congress and four from BJP

Following is the list or Names of JPC Committee members who will investigate the 2G scam.

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07/india/30122800_1_spectrum-trai-2g). Times of India. 7 September 2011.

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paper/article2325809.ece). The Hindu: Business Line.

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tech-what-the-cag-report-on-2g-scam-says/20101116.htm). Rediff.

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20/news/29564752_1_2g-spectrum-case-licence-fee). The Economic Times. 2011-05-02. Retrieved 23 July 2013

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cancelled-by-supreme-court/1/171700.html). India Today. 2 February 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2013.

18. ^ "SC cancels 122 licences: Are you affected?" (http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-

documentid=5807414). MSN.

19. ^ "List of 122 cancelled 2G licenses;What should subscribers do" (http://news.oneindia.in/2012/02/02/list-122-

cancelled-2g-licenses-suggestion-subscribers-1.html). One India News.

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,2071839,00.htmlhttp://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-02-02/india/31016262_1_spectrum-licences-2g-spectrum-allotment-casehttp://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2071839_2071844_2071866,00.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TIME_magazinehttp://www.ndtv.com/article/india/what-is-2g-spectrum-scam-66418http://www.rediff.com/business/slide-show/slide-show-1-tech-what-the-cag-report-on-2g-scam-says/20101116.htmhttp://www.firstpost.com/business/cabinet-sets-rs-14000-cr-as-reserve-price-for-2g-spectrum-404702.htmlhttp://news.oneindia.in/2012/02/02/list-122-cancelled-2g-licenses-suggestion-subscribers-1.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TIME_magazinehttp://www.nod.com/article/india/how-raja-misused-pm-s-letter-while-allocating-2g-licences-136810http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/article2325809.ecehttp://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=5807414http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-02-02/india/31016547_1_2g-raja-swan-telecomhttp://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/article3742967.ecehttp://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-05-20/news/29564752_1_2g-spectrum-case-licence-feehttp://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3739078.ece?homepage=truehttp://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-09-07/india/30122800_1_spectrum-trai-2ghttp://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2011/05/20/raja-on-times-list-of-top-power-abuses/http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/2g-scam-licenses-cancelled-by-supreme-court/1/171700.html


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November" (http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2562158.ece). The Hindu. Retrieved 23 July 2013.

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scam-case/142180-3.html). IBN Live. 2 February 2011. Retrieved 23 July 2013.42. ^ "Finally, Raja applies for bail, seeks parity" (http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/Finally-

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