This is not the first reputation that has sank or the last voice that has been shamed by the Niira Radia tapes. Far from it. But there is something quite central—and infinitely more charged with symbolism—about the arrest of former telecom minister A. Raja and a few of his associates by the Central Bureau of Investigation. It's a huge comedown for a beleaguered government that's spent the past three years trying to deny, ignore, paper over, even subvert, the true import of the 2G spectrum allocation scam. If the powers-that-be had had their way, A. Raja would still be the telecom minister of the UPA government. That he's now finally behind bars could be a body blow—or a political and judicial face-saver—for the Congress-led UPA government.
The UPA's many attempts at "managing the environment" have been swept away by forces beyond its control. The public anger against corruption—the Adarsh Society scam or the Commonwealth Games, amongst others—has been too loud to ignore, and the Opposition parties have been intractable in their demand for a proper probe into the 2G scam. Moreover, Raja was arrested eight days before the CBI was required to submit its progress report in the Supreme Court, which is now the guardian of the 2G scam investigation. The government has been asked tough questions in the wake of two PILs filed by lawyer Prashant Bhushan and Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy in the Supreme Court, challenging the government's 2008 2G telecom licence and spectrum allocation. It really had nowhere left to hide.
Niira Radia at ED office
It's here that the excerpts of Radia's taped phone conversations published by Outlook played an important role. Serious, as well as titillating, the conversations taped by the I-T department brought to life the key "movers and shakers" in the 2G scam. From the naked parleying with lobbyists and senior editors in cabinet formation to the internecine corporate wars of telecom companies and bureaucrats, it made it all the more difficult to hide behind voluminous action-taken reports and complex conversations on spectrum policy. It imparted the story many voices and a life of its own—pushing the government to act, even in other scams it was facing.
Although the CBI is yet to file a formal chargesheet (it has 60 days to do so), there is plenty going against Raja. Even so, given the current air of public distrust against the government's motives, many questions are being asked. Foremost among them is: is the arrest of A. Raja—and his former personal secretary R.K. Chandolia and former telecom secretary Siddharth Behura—an attempt to contain the extent of the scam to these individuals? On the face of it, Congress alliance partner DMK has been advised to wash its hands of Raja. But surely Raja would not have acted in isolation; will he, and other players, then start singing and reveal more links within the DMK and the Congress-led government? Will this go all the way to the top?
That depends on what the CBI has on Raja's role—and more—in the scam. To start with, the attack is on procedural grounds, as the current telecom minister Kapil Sibal had pointed out. The primary charge, of course, would be the giving away of licences at throwaway prices to favour some companies. Not only did Raja stick to a 2001 price of Rs 1,651 crore for licence and start-up spectrum given in 2008, he also refused to auction 2G spectrum and followed a first-come-first-served policy for grant of licences, something not clearly defined in any policy. Unravelling the bizarre play of ministerial power to manipulate policies in favour of a few companies should be relatively easy.
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That's why more heads are set to roll (though some may have turned approvers). The Shivraj Patil committee findings, which are yet to be made public, are reported to have named several other DoT officials, including former wireless advisor P.K. Garg, former joint secretary M.S. Sahu, DoT member K. Sridharan and deputy directors general A.K. Srivastava and P.K. Mittal. Of course, investigations continue on the role played by Radia, who has been questioned three times by the authorities, as well as former TRAI chief Pradip Baijal.
Raided! Raja at his residence during the CBI raid in Dec 2010. (Photograph by Sanjay Rawat)
"Now the legality of all licences would be looked at," says independent Rajya Sabha member Rajeev Chandrasekhar. Insiders say that with Raja taken care of, the next round of action will be on the beneficiaries of the scam—companies that benefited from Raja's dubious tactics. This would be strengthened by the CAG report, which categorically declared that as many as 85 of the 122 licences were illegal. With the Supreme Court supervising the investigations, these companies will have no place to run if the illegalities are proven. They may stand to lose their licences or face stiff penalties.
According to sources in the telecom industry, the spotlight will be on companies named in the CAG report and whose holding pattern was questionable at the time of application. These include Swan where, the CAG alleges, Reliance Communications had more than the permissible 10 per cent equity—which the company has denied. Others could be Loop, Datacom (now Videocon Mobile) and S-Tel, as well as older players like Idea—which applied for licence to some circles in 2006, and were part of the 2008 brigade. Also, with the Supreme Court in the loop, the procedural irregularities committed by Raja in awarding dual technology licences (gsm as well as cdma) will also be examined. That could bring some of the older companies like Tata Teleservices and Reliance into questioning. Again, if irregularities are established—as the CAG report has said—these companies too could face some music.
At the same time, the CBI scanner will fall on companies through which Raja is said to have benefited. It is learnt that the I-T department has unearthed a money trail where a Mumbai real estate company paid a large sum of money to a Chennai-based company. According to reports, the department found some key linkages of this trail to the 2G scam. The Radia tapes also revealed transactions between a Tata group subsidiary and the DMK, as well as donation of equipment to a hospital in Raja's home town Perambalur. There are also references in the tapes to Raja's "interest" in Swan Telecom—and transactions with another licensee, Unitech. These too, it is believed, have not escaped CBI's attention.
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As expected, the mood in the telecom industry is one of fear, especially among the newer players. Some of them have already started trimming their workforces. With the Supreme Court itself sending notices to telecom companies last month, the matter is out of DoT's hands. Clearly, the government has lost the moral ground to command this investigation.
One for Raja Chennai lawyers protesting Raja's arrest. (Photograph by Martin Louis)
Only last month telecom minister Kapil Sibal challenged the CAG claim that the state exchequer lost Rs 1.76 lakh crore on account of 2G allocation, saying that the government actually lost nothing as the scam was nothing but a procedural irregularity. His theory found support in Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, who went on to say that the companies who sold equity within months of obtaining a licence—Swan to Etisalat and Unitech to Telenor—had made no money as the proceeds of the equity sale were put in the company and used for business development.
But days before the arrests, Sibal, who had argued that start-up spectrum with licences have to be free, effected a significant policy change. He unbundled spectrum from telecom licences, making it imperative for applicants to pay for licences and then obtain spectrum at market prices instead of getting it free. That one change tears to shreds UPA's symbolic response to the country's largest scam. Given that the Radia tapes have given the 2G scam durability in the public consciousness, it'll be foolish to let matters rest here.
| ALSO IN THIS STORY |
RAJA'S ARREST Rewinding the lobbyist's key conversations over a 47-day period. These are the moments that changed a story. |
UPA Raja's arrest won't ease, only increase, political uncertainties |
UPA Senior UPA leaders who had dismissed the CAG report as presumptive are now left red-faced |
AUTHORS: ARINDAM MUKHERJEE
PEOPLE: A. RAJA | NIIRA RADIA | KAPIL SIBAL
TAGS: SPECTRUM SALE AND SCAMS | TELECOM | PHONE TAPPING & SURVEILLANCE | INCOME TAX |CBI | DMK
SECTION: NATIONAL
SUBSECTION: COVER STORIES
FEB 10, 2011 03:11 PM 20 | What a bunch of hypocrates we are!!!! We are a nation that has filtered and distilled corruption to its purest level and none of us are exempt. Yes the malaise is deep and frightening. We have forgotten what law and order means. We thrive in chaos and we have a leadership that beleives it is above the law. We the common man must now pick up the Gauntlet and as ONE we must refuse to bow to these Politicians and Bureaucrats. It is time that we begin the process of 'Cleansing' now. It is not enough to mouth the age old "Sab hi to kar rahe hain". Todays Elite that mouths these slogans are no better, they are the Buffers used by the System to feed the masses with soothing 'Opium' and then they continue on their villaineous paths. What moral standing have any Politician from the Opposition got? All they can do is waste national wealth and time, by not allowing the parliament to function. Let them use their resources and come to the people and not disrupt Governance. The system is so Rotten that it has managed to Slurry the name of a man like Dr. Manmohan Singh and take lee in his Integrity. As things are we are a doomed nation and will possibly correct ourselves only with a revolutionary zeal for doing the right thing. |
FEB 10, 2011 01:44 PM 19 | Congress is already looking for a better slogan than 'Aam Admi ko kya mila?'Sonia in typical Vatican way will throw a few crumbs to the poor of the country,as if it is her personsl money,and the votes are in her bag,The paid media like barkhas,Sardesais will highlight Sonia's concern for the poor and the circle is completed. |
FEB 09, 2011 08:36 PM 18 | All these days, we were all worried at the extent of corruption and maladministration. It is good to see that many like Outlook, have taken up the responsibility of unmasking the real faces of the persons in seats of power. A bold and righteous exposure will sure make, at least, to think twicw before doing a wrong thing. I find one of the top officers of the Department of Telecom and about whom I have very high good opinion, has become a scapegoat, by the Minister, forcing him, perhaps, to sign on dotted lines. I expect such people should tell the truth, come whatever be! |
FEB 09, 2011 01:18 PM 17 | Now truth is coming out. Finally CBI gives the cleanchit to Radia. Tapes were just showed to produce media attention & to create sensation among common public |
FEB 08, 2011 06:46 PM 16 | Would it be too much to expect from Higher Judiciary to monitor the investigation to its logical conclusion, when the judiciary itself is facing unprecedented crisi of ' credibility ' with many top judges facing the curroption charges themselves? |
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