This Article is From Nov 18, 2015

Former Minister A Raja Told Officials That Swan Telecom was Eligible for 2G: CBI

Former Minister A Raja Told Officials That Swan Telecom was Eligible for 2G: CBI

The CBI had earlier alleged that former Telecom minister, A Raja, in conspiracy with others, had granted 2G spectrum to ineligible firm STPL.

New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today claimed in a special court that former Telecom Minister, A Raja had told Department of Telecommunications that Swan Telecom Pvt Ltd (STPL) was eligible for grant of 2G spectrum, even though its officials had initially expressed apprehension about its eligibility.

Advancing final arguments in the 2G spectrum allocation case, special public prosecutor Anand Grover said the DoT officers were "apprehensive" about STPL's eligibility while scrutinising its application for getting the radiowaves.

"Officers (of DoT) were apprehensive about whether STPL was eligible or not and it was A Raja (then Telecom Minister) and other accused who said that it was eligible," Mr Grover told Special CBI Judge OP Saini.

"DoT officers had initially noted that there was some discrepancy in STPL's eligibility," he said while referring to various documents which were filed in the court along with the charge sheet.

CBI had earlier alleged that Mr Raja, in conspiracy with others, had granted 2G spectrum to ineligible firm STPL. Raja and other accused, including STPL and its promoters Shahid Usman Balwa and Vinod Goenka, have denied the CBI's allegations.

Mr Grover's arguments remained inconclusive today and would continue tomorrow.

Besides Mr Raja, Mr Balwa and Mr Goenka, DMK lawmaker Kanimozhi, former Telecom Secretary Siddharth Behura, Mr Raja's erstwhile private secretary RK Chandolia, Unitech Ltd MD Sanjay Chandra and three top executives of Reliance ADAG - Gautam Doshi, Surendra Pipara and Hari Nair - are facing trial in the case.

Directors of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd Asif Balwa and Rajiv Agarwal, Kalaignar TV Director Sharad Kumar and Bollywood producer Karim Morani are also accused in the case besides three telecom companies -- Reliance Telecom Ltd, STPL and Unitech Wireless (Tamil Nadu) Ltd.

In its charge sheet, CBI had alleged a loss of Rs 30,984 crore to the exchequer in allocation of 122 licences for 2G spectrum, which was scrapped by the Supreme Court on February 2, 2012.

All the accused have denied the allegations levelled against them by CBI.
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