New Delhi:
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today got a two-day extension of former Telecom Minister A Raja's custody. The CBI had earlier asked a Delhi court for a four-day extension. Raja has already spent five days in custody.
The former minister was arrested on February 2 by the CBI in connection with the 2G spectrum scam. Also arrested were two men who worked closely with him when he was the Telecom Minister - former Telecom Secretary Siddharth Behura, and RK Chandolia who was once Raja's personal secretary. The CBI today did not seek their further custody.
Sources say the CBI told the court that it needs to question Raja more to establish his link to the money trail in the 2G scam.
In the last hearing in court on February 3, the CBI explained why it has accused the DMK leader of criminal conspiracy. The sum of the parts played by Raja and his associates, according to the CBI, equals Rs 22,000 crore.
The CBI said that in 2008, when the government was allocating 2G spectrum for mobile phone networks, the trio twisted the rules to benefit a few companies - especially Swan and Unitech.
The licenses for 2G spectrum were not auctioned, as many say they should have been. Raja chose to follow a First-Come-First-Served policy which was set by his predecessors. But the CBI's case is based on his office advancing the deadline for payments and informing only some of the players. Companies like Swan and Unitech seemed to have been tipped off to this, because despite the cut-off date being brought forward, they had their payments ready.
After winning their licenses, Swan and Unitech sold equity to foreign companies much before they began the rollout of their services. The giant profits they made seemed to underscore the point that spectrum had been sold far too cheaply by the government.
Swan paid Rs 1,537 crore and sold 45% stake to Etisalat for a profit of Rs 4, 730 crore.
Unitech paid Rs 1,661 crore for its license, and sold 60% stake to Telenor for Rs 6,200 crore.
Together, these two players cost the government Rs 7, 195 crore, according to the CBI. But both Swan and Unitech have denied these allegations.
"It is highly incorrect to allege that any favour was shown to Unitech during the license process. Unitech Ltd. obtained the telecom licenses (through its eight wholly-owned subsidiaries) along with 8 other players, after complying with the necessary formalities. While the licenses were issued in February 2008, the first round of investment from Telenor in Uninor was received after 13 months in March 2009," said Unitech in a statement.
In court on February 3, Raja's lawyers contested all allegations against him, and the DMK leader was heard speaking to them in Tamil. At one point, Raja said all decisions on 2G were taken by the Cabinet.