NEW DELHI, FEB 14
Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata and his telecom firm Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL) as also Anil Ambani and his Reliance Communications may feel the heat as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is probing the dual technology licence to them in October 2007 and their direct and indirect funding to the two new companies that got the 2G licence and spectrum three months later.
The agency is working on a theory that this dual policy of allowing these CDMA operators, which also included Shyam Teleservices, the money-making GSM sector by then Telecom Minister A Raja, without any Union Cabinet approval, is the forerunner to the massive 2G scam.
While Raja and DB Realty boss Shahid Usman Balwa were taken on further remand of three and four days respectively by the CBI on Monday, the probe against Tata and Ambani is being conducted under both the first FIR registered in 2009 as also under a fresh FIR registered for preliminary inquiry on the directive of the Supreme Court.
The agency is probing Delhi visits of Tata in his private jet or otherwise during the scam period of 2007-08 and it has also taken on record his handwritten letter purportedly written to DMK supremo and Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on November 13, 2007, less than a month of getting the GSM licence, praising Raja as “rational, fair and action oriented” for pursuing the spectrum policy that is “fair, legally sound, rational and well-reasoned”. The letter reportedly found at Raja’s residence was supposed to be delivered to Karunanidhi by Tata’s lobbyist Nira Radia as stated in the letter itself.
, though the DMK patriarch has denied receipt of any such letter.
Sources said the TTSL executives have been summoned to understand how their CDMA company that got the dual use GSM licence at Rs 1658 crores sold 26 per cent of its shares to Japan’s DoCoMo within seven months at a whopping price of Rs 13,000 crores.
These summons are under the new FIR while other Tata executives are being probed separately under the 2009 FIR on the Tata Realty’s fund flow to Unitech Group, which is another major beneficiary of the scam, besides Balwa’s Swan Capital that got funding from Anil Ambani’s company as a 9.9 per cent equity at the time of applying for 2G licences but offloaded at back before it got the actual licence.
Since both Tata and Anil Ambani are beneficiaries of the dual technology decision and also financiers of the new telcos getting the licences in January 2008, the CBI is probing if they were “fathers” and conspirators with Raja in the 2G scam under investigation.
While billionaire Balwa, who is in the CBI custody since after arrest from his Mumbai residence, is being interrogated about his companies’ investments in land deals, housing projects and DMK’s TV channel Kalaignar as quid-pro-quo for getting the 2G licence and spectrum with which he minted money selling equity to foreign partners, the agency suspects some same type of arrangement in case of Tatas whose ownership of its Voltas land in Chennai changed hands to a Malaysia-based businessman, known to be close to Karunanidhi.
Dealings in both the cases are similar and hence the CBI is trying to ascertain if Karunanidhi had any direct or indirect hand in the 2G scam and whether money has gone into his DMK or close friends and relatives in return of Raja favouring certain parties with the 2G licences at throwaway price.
TTSL of Tata and RCom of Anil Dhurubhai Ambani Group were struggling hard with the CDMA-based mobile operations and hence they were lobbying for long to get into the GSM sector that ultimately came in October 2007 when Raja allowed them to use both technologies, though some of TTSL licences are still held up.
Within a month of Raja allowing them the GSM technology use that brought main GSM operators like Bharti Airtel and Vodafone lobbying in protest as their monopoly was being eroded, then Finance Secretary D Subbarao had written to the Department of Telecom on November 22, 2007 to immediately cancel the GSM licences to TTSL and RCom at the six-year old price.
