2G spectrum scam: Anil Ambani appears before PAC

New Delhi: Reliance Communications' chairman Anil Ambani is today appearing before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that is investigating the massive 2G spectrum scam.

Mr Ambani's questioning by the Parliamentary committee comes just days after the CBI filed its first chargesheet in the case. While he has not been chargesheeted, his company ADAG has been accused of conspiracy.

Mr Ambani arrived at Parliament House shortly after 11:30 am this morning. Apart from him, Etisalat Telecom CEO Atul Jhamb, S Tel CEO Shamik Das and Unitech Wireless MD Sigve Brekke will also be questioned by the PAC. On Monday, industrialist Ratan Tata and corporate lobbyist Niira Radia were also questioned by the committee.

The 127-page chargesheet filed on Saturday lists the first set of individuals and companies that allegedly conspired with former Telecom Minister A Raja, who is now in jail, to illicitly acquire valuable spectrum at under-valued prices in 2008. Mr Raja has been charged with conspiracy, forgery, cheating and misusing his public office.


The three companies named in the chargesheet are Swan Telecom, Unitech Wireless and Anil Ambani's Reliance Communications. Three senior executives who work for Mr Ambani's parent company, the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, including Gautam Doshi who is the company's Managing Director, have been accused of conspiracy and abetment of cheating.

Till Saturday, the CBI had in court singled out two companies - Swan and Unitech Wireless - for being the biggest beneficiaries of Mr Raja's swindle. Both companies have their roots in real estate and created new telecom firms to acquire mobile network licences. But in its chargesheet, the CBI said that Unitech "fraudulently concealed critical information" to disguise the fact that it was ineligible for a license. Swan, on the other hand, is described as a front for Reliance. The chargesheet says Swan was set up "out of the funds of Reliance" to allow Mr Ambani's company to access more spectrum and resources than was legally allowed for a single company.

Shahid Balwa, the promoter of Swan, is already in jail for routing a Rs. 200-crore kickback to Mr Raja. Mr Balwa's partner, Vinod Goenka, is known to be close to Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar. Mr Goenka, like Mr Balwa, is now accused of conspiracy and cheating.

The Chairman of Unitech Wireless, Sanjay Chandra, has been charged with conspiracy and cheating. Mr Chandra, according to the CBI, was aware that his company was ineligible for a licence; the agency believes he played a key role in Mr Raja's scheme to advance the deadline for applications for licenses - a decision that benefited Mr Chandra's company, among others. The CBI claims Mr Raja manipulated the first-come-first-served policy "to benefit Sanjay Chandra, MD of Unitech Ltd...accused Shahid Balwa, Vinod Goenka and Swan Telecom Pvt Ltd." The issue, according to the CBI, is this: Mr Raja arbitrarily advanced the cut-off date, but because Swan and Unitech executives had plotted this with him, they had a headstart in showing up first with their cheques to pay for their licenses.

A statement from Unitech Wireless issued on Saturday said, "We reiterate that Uninor (Unitech Wireless) obtained the telecom licenses along with 8-9 other players in 2008, after complying with the applicable DoT guidelines at a fee prescribed therein. We maintain that neither Uninor (Unitech Wireless) nor any of its officials have done anything inappropriate or illegal."

Three executives from Mr Ambani's ADAG group, including Gautam Doshi, who is the group's Managing Director, are accused of abetment to cheating. Explaining their role, the CBI says, "In January-February 2007, accused Gautam Doshi, Surender Pipara and Hari Nair in furtherance of their common intention to cheat the DoT, structured/created net worth of company Swan Telecom Pvt ltd out of funds arranged from Reliance Telecom Limited."

The CBI claims Reliance tried to conceal its stake in Swan. "They structured the stake holdings of Swan in a manner that only 9.9% equity was held by Reliance and rest 90.1% was shown as held by Tiger Traders although the entire company was held by Reliance ADAG... investigations have disclosed that day-to-day affairs of Swan and Tiger were managed by the three accused."

Supreme Court to decide on Special Prosecutor

The Supreme Court today took up the issue of appointment of a Special Public Prosecutor to conduct the trial in the 2G case.

The CBI had recommended senior advocate Uday Lalit, but in the court today, the Centre objected to the CBI's recommendation.

The Supreme Court will now take up the matter on Friday.


Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/2g-spectrum-scam-pac-to-question-anil-ambani-today-96458?cp