2G Spectrum Scam

2G spectrum scam
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2013)
2G spectrum scam was a scam involving politicians and

government officials in India illegally undercharging mobile
telephone companies for frequency allocation licenses, which
they would then use to create 2G spectrum subscriptions for
cell phones. The shortfall between the money collected and the
money that the law mandated to be collected is estimated to

be INR1766.45 billion (US$29 billion), as valued by the
Comptroller and Auditor General of India based on 3G and BWA
spectrum auction prices in 2010.[1] However, the exact loss is
disputed. In a chargesheet filed on 2 April 2011 by the
investigating agency, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the
loss was pegged at INR309845.5 million (US$5.2 billion)[2]
whereas on 19 August 2011 in a reply to CBI, Telecom
Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said that the government
gained over INR30 billion (US$500 million) by giving 2G
spectrum.[2] Similarly Kapil Sibal, the Minister of
Communications & IT, claimed in 2011, during a press
conference, that "zero loss" was caused by distributing 2G
licenses on first-come-first-served basis.[3] It has to be pointed
out, however, that "zero loss" can simply mean that
frequencies were not sold for less than cost. The phrase
indicates nothing about whether the sale was a scam.
All the speculations of profit, loss and no-loss were put to rest
on 2 February 2012 when the Supreme Court of India delivered
judgement on a public interest litigation (PIL) which was directly
related to the 2G spectrum scam. The Supreme Court declared
allotment of spectrum as "unconstitutional and arbitrary" and
quashed all the 122 licenses issued in 2008 during tenure of A.
Raja (then minister for communications & IT from 2007 to
2009) the main official accused in the 2G scam case.[4] The
court further said that A. Raja "wanted to favour some
companies at the cost of the public exchequer" and "virtually
gifted away important national asset."[5] The "zero loss theory"
was further demolished[6] on 3 August 2012 when as per the
directions of the Supreme Court, Govt of India revised the base
price for 5 MHz 2G spectrum auction to INR140 billion (US$2.3
billion), which roughly gives the value of spectrum to be around
INR28 billion (US$470 million) per MHz that is close to the
CAG's estimate of INR33.5 billion (US$560 million) per MHz.[7]
[8]
The original plan for awarding licences was to follow a firstcome-first-served policy to applicants. A. Raja manipulated the
rules so that the first-come-first-served policy would kick in
not on the basis of who applied first for a license but who
complied with the conditions.[9] On 10 January 2008,
companies were given just a few hours to provide their Letters
of Intent and cheques. Those allegedly tipped off by Raja were
waiting with their cheques and other documents. Some of their
executives were sent to jail along with the minister.[9]
In 2011, Time magazine listed the scam at number two on their

"Top 10 Abuses of Power" list (just behind the Watergate
scandal).[10][11][12]
Contents
[hide] 1 Background
2 Parties accused of Involvement 2.1 Politicians accused 2.1.1
A. Raja
2.1.2 M. K. Kanimozhi
2.1.3 Pramod Mahajan
2.2 Bureaucrats accused 2.2.1 Siddharth Behura

2.2.2 RK Chandolia
2.3 Corporate executives accused 2.3.1 Sanjay Chandra

2.3.2 Gautam Doshi
2.3.3 Hari Nair
2.3.4 Surendra Pipara
2.3.5 Vinod Goenka
2.3.6 Shahid Balwa
2.3.7 Asif Balwa (younger brother of Shahid Balwa)
2.3.8 Rajiv Agarwal
2.3.9 Sharath Kumar
2.3.10 Ravi Ruia
2.3.11 Anshuman Ruia
2.3.12 Vikas Saraf
2.3.13 IP Khaitan
2.3.14 Kiran Khaitan
2.4 Film and entertainment persons accused 2.4.1 Karim Morani
2.5 Corporations accused 2.5.1 Unitech Wireless

2.5.2 Reliance Telecom
2.5.3 Swan Telecom
2.6 Media role
3 Chronology of events and investigation 3.1 2007
3.2 2008
3.3 2009
3.4 2010
3.5 2011
3.6 2012
3.7 2013
4 Licenses quashed 4.1 GTEL_Teleservice pvt.ltd affected by

cancellation of licenses
4.2 Aftereffects of Supreme Court's verdict
5 Gtel_Teleservice-Maxis deal controversy

6 Response to scam
7 Joint Parliamentary Committee
8 See also
9 External links
10 References
Background[edit]
India is divided into 22 telecom zones, with 281 zonal licenses

in the market.[13] In 2008, 122 new second generation (2G)
Unified Access Service (UAS) licenses were given to telecom
companies at the 2001 price and on a first-come-first-serve
basis. As per the chargesheet filed by the Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI), several rules were violated and bribes were

paid to favour certain firms while awarding 2G spectrum
licenses. The audit report of Comptroller and Auditor General of
India (CAG) says that several licenses were issued to firms with
no prior experience in the telecom sector or were ineligible or
had suppressed relevant facts.[14] In November 2007 Prime
Minister of India Dr Manmohan Singh had written a letter to
telecom minister A. Raja directing him to ensure allotment of
2G spectrum in a fair and transparent manner and to ensure
license fee was properly revised. Raja wrote back to the prime
minister rejecting many of his recommendations.[15] In the
same month Ministry of Finance wrote a letter to Department of
Telecommunications (DOT) raising concerns over the procedure
adopted by it[15] but DOT went ahead with its plan of giving 2G
licenses. It advanced the cut-off date to 25 September, from 1
October 2007.[15] Later on the same day, DoT posted an
announcement on its website saying those who apply between
3:30 and 4:30 pm on that very day would be issued licences in
accordance with the said policy.[15] Companies like Unitech
and Swan Telecom got licenses without any telecom
experience.[16]
Swan Telecom got the license even though it did not meet
eligibility criteria.[16] Swan got license for INR15.37 billion
(US$260 million) and then it sold 45% stake to UAE-based
company Etisalat for INR42 billion (US$700 million).[16] Unitech
Wireless, a subsidiary of the Unitech Group, got license for
INR16.61 billion (US$280 million) and later sold 60% stake for
INR62 billion (US$1.0 billion) to Norway-based company Telenor.
[16]
Following is the list of companies who received 2G licenses

during the tenure of A. Raja as Telecom Minister.[17][18] (The
licenses were later quashed by Supreme Court)[19][20]
Name of Company
Telecom regions for which license was granted
Number of license granted
Remarks
Adonis Projects Pvt. Ltd. Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu &

Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh (East) 6 Adonis
Projects, Nahan Properties, Aska Projects, Volga Properties,
Azare Properties & Hudson Properties were acquired by Unitech.
Unitech Infrastructure and Unitech Builders & Estates were
already subsidiaries of Unitech Group. So in 2008 Unitech had
22 2G licenses. Later in the same year Norway-based company
Telenor bought majority stake in the telecom company from the
Unitech Group. Now it offers services under Uninor brand
holding 22 pan India licences.
Nahan Properties Pvt. Ltd. Assam, Bihar, North East, Orissa,
Uttar Pradesh (East), West Bengal 6
Aska Projects Ltd. Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka 3
Volga Properties Pvt. Ltd. Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra 3
Azure Properties Ltd. Kolkata 1
Hudson Properties Delhi 1
Unitech Builders & Estates Pvt. Ltd. Tamil Nadu (including

Chennai) 1
Unitech Infrastructures Pvt. Ltd. Mumbai 1
Loop Telecom Pvt. Ltd. Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal, Pradesh,
Kerala, Kolkata, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh (East), Uttar
Pradesh (West), West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana,
Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu (including
Chennai), Assam, Jammu & Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, North
East 21
Datacom Solutions Pvt. Ltd. Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar,
Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir,
Karnataka, Kerala, Kolkata, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra,
North East, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu (including Chennai),
Uttar Pradesh (East), Uttar Pradesh West, West Bengal, Delhi,
Mumbai 21 Operates under brand name Videocon
Telecommunications Limited
Shyam Telelink Limited Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Kolkata,
Punjab, Uttar Pradesh (East), Uttar Pradesh (West), West
Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Karnataka,
Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu (including Chennai), Assam,
Jammu & Kashmir, North East 17 Shyam Telelink Limited &
Shyani Telelink Limited operate together with their combined 21
licenses. During late 2008 Russia-based group Sistema bought
majority stake in the telecom company and now they operate
under brand name MTS India.
Shyani Telelink Limited Mumbai, Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal
Pradesh 4
Swan Telecom Pvt. Ltd. Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana,
Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu
(including Chennai), Uttar Pradesh (East), Uttar Pradesh (West),
Delhi, Mumbai 13 Swan Telecom was subsidiary of Reliance
Telecom, set up to bypass the single-company single-license
rule that was in place. In 2008, Swan Telecom merged itself
with Allianz Infratech (P) Ltd. During late 2008 Abu Dhabi's
Etisalat bought about 45 percent of the company and renamed

it to Etisalat DB Telecom
Allianz Infratech (P) Ltd. Bihar, Madhya Pradesh 2
Idea Cellular Assam, Punjab, Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir,
North East, Kolkata, West Bengal, Odisha, Tamil Nadu (including
Chennai) 9 Idea Cellular bought Spice Communications Ltd. in
2008 for an amount of INR27 billion (US$450 million).[21] So
out of 122 spectrum licenses sold in 2008 Idea Cellular owns 13
licenses. However of the 13 licenses, only 7 of the licenses are
in use by the company and the rest are overlapping licenses.
[22]
Spice Communications Ltd. Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana,
Maharashtra 4
S Tel Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, Odisha, North East, Bihar,
Himachal Pradesh 6 In January 2009, Bahrain
Telecommunications signed a deal with S Tel to buy 49% shares
in S Tel for $225 million. C Sivasankaran owns the remaining
(51%) share.[23][24] In May 2009, Sahara Group bought 11.7%
stake in S Tel[25]
Tata Teleservices Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, North East 3 In
late 2008 promoters of Tata Teleservices sold 26% equity stake
to a Japanese telecom giant NTT Docomo for about INR130.7
billion (US$2.2 billion) or an enterprise value of INR502.69
billion (US$8.4 billion).[26]
Parties accused of Involvement[edit]
The selling of the licenses brought attention to three groups of

entities politicians and bureaucrats who had the authority to
sell licenses, corporations who were buying the licenses and
media professionals who mediated between the politicians and
the corporations.
Politicians accused[edit]
Politicians named as accused in the chargesheet filed by the

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Directorate
General of Income Tax Investigation in the Special CBI Court,
allegations levelled against them by CBI and charges framed
against them by the Special CBI court.[27][28][29][30]
A. Raja[edit]
Political career Political party DMK, four times Member of
Parliament, present constituency Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu, former
Union Minister of State (Rural Development 1999), former
Union Minister of State (Health and Family Welfare 2003),
former Union Cabinet Minister (Environment & Forests 2004),
former Union Cabinet Minister (Communication and Information
Technology 2007 & 2009)[31][32][33][34]
Allegation In a joint investigation report prepared by Central
Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Income Tax Department the
agencies allege that A. Raja could have received INR30 billion
(US$500 million) as bribe for bringing forward the cut-off date
for applications for spectrum from the initial 1 October 2007 to
25 September 2007.[35][36] The deadline switch eliminated
many applications, enabling Raja to favour a few with
spectrum.[35][36] The agencies also alleged that he used bank
accounts under his wife's name in Mauritius and Seychelles to
channelise the kickbacks he received.[37] A chargesheet filed
by CBI alleges that Raja conspired with the accused, subverted
the first-come first-served (FCFS) policy and waywardly
redefined it to ensure that Swan and Unitech got 2G licences.
[38] He didn't auction the 2G spectrum or adopt some other
market-determined methodology to determine its real valuation
and instead benchmarked it to a rate discovered in 2001, when

the telecom sector was at a nascent stage.[38]
Charges Criminal breach of trust by a public servant under
section 409, criminal conspiracy under section 120-B, cheating
under section 420 & forgery under sections 468 and 471.
Booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act for accepting
illegal gratification.[27][39][40]
Status Taken into custody (arrested) by CBI on 2 February
2011[41] On 9 May 2012 he applied for bail for the first time
since his arrest.[42][43] and was granted bail on 15 May
2012[44][45][46] As of August 2012, trial is being conducted in
Special CBI Court.[47]
M. K. Kanimozhi[edit]
Political career Daughter of five-time Chief Minister of Tamil
Nadu, M. Karunanidhi. Political party DMK. She is a member of
parliament, representing Tamil Nadu in the Rajya Sabha (the
upper house of Indian Parliament).[48][49]
Allegation As per the chargesheet filed by CBI Kanimozhi has
20% stake in her family owned Kalaignar TV, her step-mother
Dayalu Ammal owns 60% stake in the same channel.[50] CBI
alleges that Kanimozhi was an "active brain" behind the
channel's operations[50] and she worked along with former
telecom minister A. Raja to get DB Realty promoter Shahid
Balwa to circuitously route INR2 billion (US$33 million) to
Kalaignar TV.[51] According to CBI, Kanimozhi was in regular
touch with A Raja regarding launching of Kalaignar TV channel
and its other pending works.[51] CBI alleges that A Raja was
further pursuing the cause of Kalaignar TV not only for getting
registration of the company from Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting but also for getting it in the DTH operator TATA
Sky's bouquet. She was also summoned by the Income Tax
Department, Chennai for alleged tax evasion charges.[51]
Charges Criminal conspiracy to cause criminal breach of trust

by a public servant, criminal conspiracy under section 120-B,
cheating under section 420 & forgery under sections 468 and
471. Booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act.[27][39]
Status Taken into custody (arrested) by CBI on 20 May 2011.
[52][53] Granted bail on 28 November 2011 after spending 188
days in judicial custody.[54][55] As of August 2012, trial is
being conducted in Special CBI Court.[47]
Pramod Mahajan[edit]
CBI decided to include the name of late Pramod Mahajan in a

separate column of the charge sheet to be filed by it soon
against three cellular companies and former officials in
connection with alleged irregularities in spectrum allocation
during NDA regime causing a loss of Rs 5.08 billion to the
exchequer.[56]
Bureaucrats accused[edit]
Bureaucrats named as accused in the chargesheet filed by CBI

in the Special CBI Court, allegations levelled against them by
CBI and charges framed against them by the Special CBI court.
[27][28][29][30]
Siddharth Behura[edit]
Designation Telecom Secretary when licenses were granted.
[27][57]
Allegation According to the chargesheet filed by CBI, Behura
conspired with A. Raja and several other accused. CBI alleges
that when the application deadline time was declared as

between 3:30 pm to 4:30 pm, Behura allegedly shut counters to
physically block other telecom companies.[16]
Charges Criminal breach of trust by a public servant under
section 409, criminal conspiracy under section 120-B, cheating
under section 420 & forgery under sections 468 and 471.
Booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act for accepting
illegal gratification.[27][58]
2011.[41] Granted bail on 9 May 2012[59][60] As of August
2012, trial is being conducted in Special CBI Court.[47]
Deposing before JPC on 10 July 2012, Behura blamed A Raja,
the then telecom Minister, for most of the decisions related to
2G spectrum auctions.[61]
RK Chandolia[edit]
Designation Raja's private secretary when licenses were
granted.[27][62]
Allegation As per the chargesheet filed by CBI, like Behura,
Chandolia too conspired with A. Raja and several other
accused. The agency alleges that when the application deadline
time was declared as between 3:30 pm to 4:30 pm, Chandolia
along with Behura allegedly shut counters to physically block
other telecom companies.[16]
by a public servant, criminal conspiracy under section 120 B,
471. Booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act[27]
2011.[41] Granted bail by the special CBI court 1 December
2011 but on 2 December 2011 High Court took suo motu notice
of newspaper reports of the bail granted to Chandolia and
stayed it.[63] Chandolia appealed against High Court order in
Supreme Court and on 9 May 2012 Supreme Court of India

upheld the bail granted to RK Chandolia.[64] As of August
2012, trial is being conducted in Special CBI Court.[47]
Corporate executives accused[edit]
Corporates named as accused in the chargesheet filed by CBI in

the Special Court and charges framed against them by the
Special court.[27][28][29][30]
Sanjay Chandra[edit]
Designation Former MD, Unitech Wireless[27]
Allegation Ex-CBI prosecutor AK Singh was implicated in a
taped conversation, sharing legal strategy and secret
information with the accused, Chandra.[65][66]
Status Taken into custody by CBI on 20 April 2011,[67][68]
granted bail on 24 November 2011.[69] As of August 2012, trial
is being conducted in Special CBI Court.[47]
Gautam Doshi[edit]
Designation Group MD, Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani
Group[27]
Status Taken into custody by CBI on 20 April 2011,[67]
Hari Nair[edit]
Designation Senior vice-president, Reliance Anil Dhirubhai
Ambani Group[27]
Surendra Pipara[edit]
Designation Senior vice- President, Reliance Anil Dhirubhai
Ambani Group[27]
Vinod Goenka[edit]
Designation Promoter and managing director, DB Realty &

Swan Telecom[27]
by a public servant, criminal conspiracy under section 120 B,
cheating under section 420, forgery under sections 468 and
471, fabrication of evidence under section 193. Booked under
the Prevention of Corruption Act[27]
Shahid Balwa[edit]
Designation Promoter, DB Realty & Swan Telecom[27]
by a public servant Criminal conspiracy under section 120-B,
471 & fabrication of evidence under section 193. Booked under
the Prevention of Corruption Act.[27]
Status Taken into custody by CBI on 8 February 2011,[70]
Asif Balwa (younger brother of Shahid Balwa)[edit]

Designation Director, Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables[27]
Prevention of Corruption Act[27]
Status Taken into custody by CBI on 29 March 2011,[72]

Rajiv Agarwal[edit]
Designation Director, Kusegaon Fruits and Vegeta[27]
Status Taken into custody by CBI on 29 March 2011,[72]
Sharath Kumar[edit]
Designation managing director, Kalaignar TV[27]
Status Taken into custody by CBI on 20 May 2011,[74] granted
bail on 28 November 2011.[75] As of August 2012, trial is being
conducted in Special CBI Court.[47]
Ravi Ruia[edit]
Designation Vice-chairman, Essar Group[76][77]
Charges Criminal conspiracy under section 120 B & cheating

under section 420 of Indian Penal Code.[76][77]
Status Not taken into custody yet.[78] As of August 2012, trial
Anshuman Ruia[edit]
Designation Director, Essar Group[76][77]
Vikas Saraf[edit]
Designation Director for strategy and planning, Essar
Group[76][77]
IP Khaitan[edit]
Designation Promotor, Loop Telecom[76][77]
Kiran Khaitan[edit]
Designation Promotor, Loop Telecom[76][77]
Film and entertainment persons accused[edit]
Karim Morani[edit]
Designation (Promoter and director, Cineyug Films)[27]
Allegation In the chargesheet filed by Income Tax Department
the agency alleged that Karim Morani owned Cineyug Films was
a part of the circuitous route used by another accuse Shahid
Balwa to transfer illegal gratification[79] of INR2 billion (US$33
million) to Kalaignar TV of which Kanimozhi, was a director.[79]
According to the chargesheet, Shahid Balwa and Vinod Goenka,
promoters of DB Realty transferred INR2092.5 million (US$35
million) to Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables of which Shahid
Balwa's younger brother Asif Balwa was a director.[79][80]
Kusegaon Fruits & Vegetables then transferred a sum of INR2
billion (US$33 million) to Cineyug Films whose promoter Karim
Morani transferred it to Kalaignar TV[79]
the Prevention of Corruption Act[27]
Status Taken into custody by CBI on 30 May 2011,[81] granted
bail on 28 November 2011.[75] As of August 2012, trial is being
conducted in Special CBI Court.[47]
Corporations accused[edit]
Companies named in the chargesheet filed by Central Bureau

of Investigation (CBI) and charges framed against them.[27]
[28][29][30]
Unitech Wireless[edit]
471. Booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act.[27]
Status As of August 2012, trial is being conducted in Special
CBI Court.[47]
Reliance Telecom[edit]
CBI Court.[47]
Swan Telecom[edit]

CBI Court.[47]
Other companies named in the chargesheet are:[82][83][84]

Loop Telecom Pvt Ltd
Loop Mobile India Ltd
Essar Tele Holding
Essar (Parent group of Essar Tele Holding)
Media role[edit]
Main article: Radia tapes controversy
Media sources such as OPEN and Outlook reported that two

senior journalists Barkha Dutt (group editor of NDTV) and Vir
Sanghvi (editorial director of Hindustan Times) knew that
corporate lobbyist Nira Radia was influencing the decisions of
appointment of telecom minister. Radia wanted A Raja to be
appointed as the telecom minister.[85] The two magazines
made public the telephone conversations between Nira Radia,
Barkha Dutt & Vir Sanghvi.[86][87] Radia's phones were being
tapped by the Income Tax Department. Critics allege that
Barkha Dutt and Vir Sanghvi knew about the nexus between
the government and the media industry but still they supported
this corrupt activity and suppressed news reporting the
discovery of the corrupt practice.[85]
Chronology of events and investigation[edit]
The Centre for Public Interest Litigation filed the first petition
against the Union of India for irregularities in awarding 2G
spectrum licenses. The petition alleged that the government
had lost $15.53 billion by issuing spectrum in 2008 based on
2001 prices, and by not following a competitive bidding
process. This led to further petitions and the launch of a probe
in 2010.[88]
2007[edit]
May 2007: A Raja takes over as Telecom Minister.[89]
August 2007: Process of allotment of 2G spectrum for telecom
along with Universal Access Service (UAS) Licences initiated by
the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
25 September 2007: Telecom Ministry issues press note fixing
deadline for application as 1 October 2007.
1 October 2007: DoT receives 575 applications for UAS licences
of 46 companies.[90]
2 November 2007: The prime minister writes to Raja directing
him to ensure allotment of 2G spectrum in a fair and
transparent manner and to ensure that licence fee was properly
revised. Raja writes back to the prime minister rejecting many
of his recommendations.
22 November 2007: Finance Ministry writes to DoT raising
concerns over the procedure adopted by it. Demand for review
rejected.
2008[edit]
10 January 2008: DoT decides to issue licences on first-comefirst-serve basis, advancing the cut-off date to 25 September,
from 1 October 2007. Later on the same day, DoT posted an
announcement on its website saying those who apply between
3.30 pm and 4.30 pm would be issued licences in accordance

with the said policy.[91][92]
2008: Swan Telecom, Unitech and Tata Teleservices sell off a
part of their stakes at much higher rates to Etisalat, Telenor and
DoCoMo, respectively.[93][94][95]
2009[edit]
4 May 2009: An NGO Telecom Watchdog files complaint to the
Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) on the illegalities in the
spectrum allocation to Loop Telecom.
19 May 2009: Another complaint was filed to the CVC by Arun
Agarwal, highlighting grant of spectrum to Swan Telecom at
throwaway prices.
2009: CVC directs CBI to investigate the irregularities in
allocation of 2G spectrum.
1 July 2009: Delhi HC holds advancing of cut-off date as illegal
on a petition of telecom company S-Tel.[96]
21 October 2009: CBI registers a case and files an FIR against
"unknown officers of DoT and unknown private
persons/companies under various provisions of IPC and
Prevention of Corruption Act.
22 October 2009: Directorate General of Income Tax
Investigation raids DoT offices.[97][98][99]
16 November 2009: CBI seeks details of tapped conversation of
corporate lobbyist Niira Radia to find out involvement of
middlemen in the grant of spectrum to telecom companies. It
has sought help from the Directorate General of Income Tax
Investigation regarding information on Ms. Nira Radia of M/s
Noesis Consultancy and records pertaining to middlemen
regarding award of 2G spectrum licences
2010[edit]
13 March 2010: SC upholds Delhi HC verdict on cut off date
advancement as illegal[100][101]
31 March 2010: CAG says that there was large scale
irregularities in the spectrum allocation .
2 April 2010: CBI DIG (Investigations) Vineet Agarwal IRS and
Director General of Income Tax (Investigations) Milap Jain IRS,
who were investigating the case, transferred. Milap Jain was
transferred as Director General of International Taxation.[102]
6 May 2010: Telephonic conversation between Raja and Niira
Radia taped by the Directorate General of Income Tax
Investigation made public by the media.[103]
May 2010: NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation moves the
Delhi High Court seeking investigation into the scam by SIT.
25 May 2010: Delhi HC dismisses the petition.
August 2010: Appeal filed in the Supreme Court against the
High Court's order.
18 August 2010: HC refuses to direct the prime minister to
decide on a complaint by Janata Party chief Subramanian
Swamy seeking sanction to prosecute Raja for his involvement
in 2G scam.
13 September 2010: SC asks government, Raja to reply within
10 days to three petitions filed by CPIL and others alleging
there was a INR70000 crore (US$12 billion) scam in the grant of
telecom licences in 2008.
24 September 2010: Swamy moves SC seeking direction to the
PM to sanction prosecution of Raja.
27 September 2010: Directorate General of Income Tax
Investigation informs SC of probe against firms suspected to
have violated FEMA. Says can't deny or confirm now Raja's
involvement in the scam.
8 October 2010: SC asks government to respond to CAG report

about the scam.[104]
21 October 2010: Draft reports of CAG placed before the
Supreme Court.
29 October 2010: SC pulls up CBI for its tardy progress in the
investigations into the scam.[105][106]
10 November 2010: CAG submits report on 2G spectrum to
government stating loss of INR176000 crore (US$29 billion) to
exchequer.
11 November 2010: DoT files affidavit in SC saying CAG did not
have the authority to question the policy decision as per which
licence were issued to new players in 2008.
14 November 2010: A Raja resigns as Telecom Minister[107]
[108]
15 November 2010: Kapil Sibal given additional charge of
Telecom Ministry.[109][110]
20 November 2010: Affidavit on behalf of PM filed in Supreme
Court. Rejects charge of inaction on Swamy's complaint.[111]
[112][113]
22 November 2010: CBI and Directorate General of Income Tax
Investigation tells SC it will file charge sheet in the case within
three months.
22 November 2010: CBI tells SC role of corporate lobbyist Niira
Radia would be questioned by it.
24 November 2010: SC reserves verdict on Swamy's plea
seeking direction to PM for grant of sanction to prosecute Raja.
25 November 2010: SC ticks off CBI for not questioning Raja.
29 November 2010: CBI files status report on 2G spectrum
scam probe.
30 November 2010: SC questions CVC P J Thomas's moral right

to supervise CBI's probe into 2G spectrum scam as he himself
was Telecom Secretary at that point of time.[114]
1 December 2010: SC directs original tapes containing
conversation between corporate lobbyist Niira Radia and others
be handed over to it.
1 December 2010: Raja questions CAG findings in the SC.
2 December 2010: Government places recorded tapes in the SC
from the Directorate General of Income Tax Investigation.
2 December 2010: SC comes down heavily on Raja for
bypassing and over-ruling PM's advice to defer allocation of 2G
spectrum by a few days.
8 December 2010: SC favours including in the probe period
since 2001 when first-come-first-serve was the norm for
spectrum allocation.
8 December 2010: SC asks Centre to consider setting up of a
special court to try 2G spectrum scam case.
8 December 2010: Directorate General of Income Tax
Investigation submits report. Says money trail covers 10
countries, including Mauritius.
14 December 2010: Another PIL in SC seeking cancellation of
new telecom licences and 2G spectrum allocated during Raja's
tenure.
15 December 2010: Swamy files petition in a Delhi court
seeking his inclusion as a public prosecutor in 2G spectrum
case.
15 December 2010: Swamy mentions in complaint that Raja
favoured "ineligible" private companies Swan Telecom Pvt Ltd
and Unitech Wireless Ltd in allocating the spectrum.
16 December 2010: SC decides to monitor the CBI inquiry[115]
[116][117]
2011[edit]
4 January 2011: Swamy moves SC seeking cancellation of 2G
spectrum licenses.
10 January 2011: Supreme Court issues notice to Centre on the
plea seeking cancellation of 2G licenses. Also issues notices to
11 companies which allegedly did not fulfill the roll-out
obligations or were ineligible.
30 January 2011: Government's decision to regularise licenses
of the companies which failed to meet the deadline for roll-out
obligation challenged in the Supreme Court.
2 February 2011: Raja, former Telecom Secretary Siddharth
Behura and Raja's former Personal Secretary R K Chandolia
arrested and next day they were remanded in CBI custody.
8 February 2011: Raja remanded to two more days of CBI
custody. Behura and Chandolia sent to judicial custody.
8 February 2011: Shahid Usman Balwa, promoter of Swan
Telecom, arrested by CBI.
10 February 2011: SC asks CBI to bring under its scanner
corporate houses which were beneficiaries of the 2G spectrum.
Raja remanded to CBI custody for four more days by a special
CBI court along with Balwa.
14 February 2011: Raja's CBI custody extended for three more
days. Balwa's custody extended for four days.
17 February 2011: Raja sent to Tihar Jail under judicial custody.
18 February 2011: Directorate General of Income Tax
Investigation questions Kani Mozhi in Chennai Headquarters.
24 February 2011: Directorate General of Income Tax
Investigation tells a Delhi court that Balwa facilitated
transaction to Kalaignar TV.
28 February 2011: Raja seeks judicial proceedings through

video conferencing stating that he faces threat to life from
fellow prisoners.
1 March 2011: CBI tells SC that 63 persons are under scanner.
Raja allowed by CBI court to appear before it via videoconferencing.
14 March 2011: The Delhi High Court sets up special court to
deal exclusively with 2G cases. Balwa also allowed to appear
via video-conferencing.
17 March 2011: SC reserves order on cancellation of 2G
licenses. It rejected companies' claim saying that Principle of
Estoppel can't be applied to protect illegality.[118][119]
29 March 2011: SC permits CBI to file charge sheet on 2 April
instead of 31 March. Two more persons Asif Balwa and Rajeev
Agarwal arrested.
2 April 2011: CBI files its first charge sheet in the 2G spectrum
allocation scam.[120][121][122]
25 April 2011: CBI files second charge sheet and court issues
summons to Kanimozhi, Sharad Kumar and Karim Morani taking
cognizance of the charge sheet.[123][124][125]
6 May 2011: Kanimozhi and Sharad Kumar appear before court
and file bail pleas while Morani sought exemption from
appearance on medical ground.[126][127][128]
6 May 2011: SC issues contempt notice to Sahara India
managing director Subroto Roy and two others for alleged
interference in the ongoing ED investigation into the 2G
spectrum case.[129][130]
7 May 2011: Special CBI Court reserves order on Kanimozhi and
Sharad Kumar's bail applications.
14 May 2011: Special CBI Court defers order on their bail pleas
for 20 May.
20 May 2011: Special CBI Court rejects bail pleas of Kanimozhi

and Sharad Kumar and orders their forthwith arrest saying that
there was a possibility of witnesses being influenced
considering the magnitude of the crime.[131][132]
8 June 2011: Delhi HC judge Ajit Bharihoke rejects bail pleas of
Kanimozhi and Sharad Kumar citing that there are certain prima
facie evidences against the accused and they may be in a
position to influence the 2G probe[133][134]
20 June 2011: SC rejects Kanimozhi's bail plea[135][136][137]
25 July 2011: Arguments on Charge begins. Raja seeks to make
prime minister and former finance minister P Chidambaram as
witness.
26 August 2011: Special CBI court allows Subramanian Swamy
to argue his own case (mainly to address the possible loop
holes in CBI investigation of the case)[138][139]
30 August 2011: Directorate General of Income Tax
Investigation orders freezing of accounts, attachment of
properties worth INR223 crore (US$37 million) of five
companies mainly related to DB Realty under the provisions of
Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA)[140][141]
1 September 2011: ED files status report in Supreme Court,
says there have been FEMA violation of INR 100 billion[142]
15 September 2011: Swamy pleads before special CBI court
that P Chidambaram should be made co-accused[143]
22 September 2011: CBI defends Chidambaram in SC, blames
DoT for all wrongs.
26 September 2011: CBI moves plea for framing fresh charge
for criminal breach of trust against Raja, Chandolia and Behura.
[144][145]
9 October 2011: CBI files FIR against Maran and his brother in
Aircel-Maxis deal.[146][147][148]
10 October 2011: SC reserves order against Subramanian

Swamy's plea for a probe into Home Minister Chidambaram's
role in the 2G scam.[149][150] On the same day CBI books
former telecom minister and DMK leader Dayanidhi Maran and
his brother and media baron Kalanithi Maran[151]
22 October 2011: Special CBI Court finds prima facie evidence
to put on trial all 17 accused including Raja on various counts
like criminal conspiracy, breach of trust, cheating and forgery.
[152][153]
3 November 2011: Special CBI court dismisses bail pleas of all
the 8 applicants (including Kanimozhi)[154]
8 November 2011: Special CBI court orders CBI to give copy of
file on sale of equity by telecom companies (for investigating P
Chidambaram's involvement) to Swamy[155][156]
9 November 2011: Delhi HC refuses to grant interim bail to
Karim Morani on health grounds wondering Why everybody falls
sick once he is in custody? HC issues notice to the CBI on its
reply on the bail pleas of the five accused by 1 December.[157]
[158]
11 November 2011: Trial of the 17 accused begins in Patiala
House special CBI court.[159][160]
14 November 2011: UPA govt moves SC seeking to restrain Dr
Subramanian Swamy from making public allegations against
the UPA leadership (especially Home Minister P Chidambaram
and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi) in the 2G scam case[161]
[162]
22 November 2011: The Special CBI court shifts the trial to the
Tihar Jail complex following a Delhi high court order[163][164]
23 November 2011: SC grants bail to 5 corporate executives
Sanjay Chandra of Unitech Wireless, Vinod Goenka of Swan
Telecom as well as Reliance Group's Gautam Doshi, Surendra
Pipara and Hari Nayar.[165]
28 November 2011: HC grants bail to DMK MP Kanimozhi and 4

others namely Karim Morani, Sharad Kumar and Asif Balwa and
Rajeev Agarwal. The court upheld the principle of parity under
Section 144 of the Constitution of India that upholds an order
passed by the SC.[166][167]
29 November 2011: The special CBI court grants bail to Shahid
Balwa citing principle of parity that SC and HC have already
granted bail to 10 other accused[168][169]
1 December 2011: The special CBI court grants bail to A. Raja's
ex-private secretary R. K. Chandolia and puts additional
condition to not visit the DoT without prior permission of the
court[170][171]
2 December 2011: Taking a suo motu cognizance, HC stays bail
given by trial court to R K Chandolia[172]
7 December 2011: SC stays HC's suo motu order against
Chandolia's bail[173][174]
8 December 2011: The special CBI court accepts Swamy's plea
against Chidambaram to become a witness in his own
complaint and examine 2 witnesses, including senior CBI official
and senior Finance Ministry official[175][176]
12 December 2011: CBI files third charge sheet naming Essar
Group promoters Ravi Ruia, his son Anshuman Ruia and its
director (Strategy and Planning) Vikas Saraf, Loop Telecom
promoters Kiran Khaitan (sister of Ravi Ruia) and her husband I
P Khaitan. It also charge sheets Loop Mobile India Ltd, its
subsidiary Loop Telecom Pvt Ltd and Essar Tele Holding.[177]
[178]
16 December 2011: HC rejects bail plea of Siddharth Behura
saying "he was the 'perpetrator' of the illegal designs of Raja
and would not claim benefit of parity with 10 others released on
bail"[179]
2012[edit]
2 February: The Supreme court of India cancelled all 122
licenses allotted by A Raja and imposed Rs 50 million
(US$1,018,122) fine on Unitech, Swan and Tata Teleservices. It
also imposed a fine of Rs 5 million on Loop Telecom Pvt Ltd, STel, Allianz Infratech and Sistema Shyam Tele Services Ltd. It
also asked trial court to decide whether Home Minister P
Chidambaram should be made co-accused in 2G scam.[180]
[181]
4 February: The special court of justice O.P Saini dismissed the
plea of Subramanian Swamy to make then Finance Minister P.
Chidambram as co-accused in the 2G scam.[182]
8 February: ED and Directorate General of Income Tax
Investigation registers money laundering case against DMK
leader Dayanidhi Maran[183] and his brother Kalanithi Maran
for allegedly receiving illegal gratification of about INR 5.5
billion in the Aircel-Maxis deal.[184]
9 February: Essar Group and Loop Telecom approach Supreme
Court against its trial before Special CBI Court in 2G case.[185]
[186]
15 February: Supreme Court refused to grant interim stay on
the summonses issued against Essar Group, Loop Telecom and
their officials by a special CBI court to appear before it on 22
February for their alleged involvement in a 2G spectrum scam.
[187]
22 February: CBI lodges strong protest with CVC on the "dirty
tricks" of certain Directorate General of Income Tax
Investigation to intimidate and threaten crucial witnesses in the
2G case allegedly at the behest of DMK's Minister of State
(Finance) SS Palanimanickam. Dr. Swamy said he would
approach Supreme Court on this matter.[188]
23 February: Subramanian Swamy files petition in Supreme
Court challenging trial court's order which had dismissed
Swamy's plea to make Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram as

a co-accused in the 2G scam.[189]
2 March: Govt of India files review petition in Supreme Court
seeking partial review of the court's 2 February 2012 order
which had quashed 122 licenses.[190] The Govt questioned
Supreme Court's authority over ruling against the first-come
first-served policy but stayed away from challenging the
cancellation of 122 licences issued during the tenure of A Raja
as Telecom Minister.[191] On the same day former telecom
minister A Raja, Sistema, majority shareholder in MTS India,
Uninor and other telecom companies too filed a review petition
in Supreme Court.[192]
4 April: Other than Government of India's partial review petition
Supreme Court dismissed all 10 review petitions.[193] The
telecom companies whose review petition was dismissed
include Videocon Telecommunications Ltd, S Tel Ltd, Sistema
Shyam Teleservices Ltd, Tata Teleservices Ltd, Unitech Wireless
(Tamil Nadu) Pvt Ltd, Etisalat DB Telecom Pvt Ltd and Idea
Cellular Ltd.[193]
12 April: Government filed Presidential reference in Supreme
Court seeking the court's opinion on various issues arising from
its 2 February 2012 judgement[194]
9 May: Supreme Court granted bail to Siddharth Behura[195]
and upheld RK Chandolia's bail.[196] On the same day A Raja
also applied for bail.[197]
15 May: Bail granted to A Raja with a condition to get court's
permission for visiting Tamil Nadu[44][45] He walked out of
Tihar jail after 15 months.[198]
6 June: Special CBI Court granted permission for Raja to visit
Tamil Nadu[199]
3 July: Briefing the Joint parliamentary committee probing the
scam, ED claimed that it has enough evidence to convict DMK
chief Karunanidhi's wife and daughter Kanimozhi.[200]
31 July: Former DoT senior official AK Srivastava confirmed CBI's

allegation in his testimony saying A Raja as telecom minister
was the final authority for taking decisions on policy matters.
He in his statement to CBI earlier had mentioned that Raja had
recorded the cutoff date of 1 October 2007 for receiving
applications for grant of the 2G spectrum licences on a DoT file.
[201]
1 August: The Supreme Court, hearing the Presidential
reference on the '2G judgment,' said implementation of first
served (FCFS) policy for allotment of spectrum was flawed. The
Chief Justice of India said, "The moment you change the
criterion and distort the policy, it ceases to be FCFS policy. If
you insist on making payment at the last minute after changing
the cut-off date, then it is not FCFS, it is an out-of-turn
policy."[202]
3 August: According to the directions of the Supreme Court,
Govt of India revised the spectrum price to INR140 billion
(US$2.3 billion)[7] which demolished the "zero loss theory" and
further established INR1760 billion (US$29 billion) revenue loss
calculated by CAG.[6]
9 August: The Government again sought extension of time from
the Supreme Court till 12 November for commencing auction of
2G spectrum licences. The court, while quashing 123 licences in
February 2012, had given four months for their fresh auction
which was extended till 31 August.[203]
11 Nov: The daily trial in Justice OP Saini's special CBI court
completes 1-year. Deposition of 77 witnesses out of a total of
154 witnesses complete.[204]
2013[edit]
20 April: Senior MP of the Communist Party of India Gurudas
Dasgupta accused Manmohan Singh of "dereliction of duty",
alleging that the PM was fully aware of irregularities in
dispensing of telecom licences. He pointed out that in a letter in

November 2007 Kamal Nath had advised the Prime Minister on
setting up of a Group of Ministers for allocation of spectrum. MP
Dasgupta also referred to note from then Cabinet Secretary,
stating the value of licences of spectrum should be increased.
[205][206]
23 April: In his 112-page written statement to the JPC, A. Raja
said that he personally met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
and P. Chidambaram several times between November 2007
and July 2008 the period when the scam was perpetrated to
keep him informed of all 2G-related decisions, and the Prime
Minister agreed with him.[207]
Licenses quashed[edit]
On 2 February 2012 Supreme Court of India delivered

judgement on petitions filed by Subramanian Swamy and
Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) which had challenged
allotment of 2G licenses granted in 2008.[208] The Supreme
Court quashed all 122 spectrum licences granted during the
tenure of former communications minister A Raja.[208] and
described the allocation of 2G spectrum as "unconstitutional
and arbitrary".[209] The bench of Justice GS Singhvi & Justice
AK Ganguly imposed fine of INR50 million (US$840,000) on
Unitech Wireless, Swan telecom and Tata Teleservices and INR5
million (US$84,000) fine on Loop Telecom, S Tel, Allianz
Infratech and Sistema Shyam Tele Services Ltd.[4] The
Supreme Court's ruling said the current licences will remain in
place for four months, in which time the government should
decide fresh norms for issuing licences.[210]
The Supreme Court said in its order that then telecom minister
A. Raja "wanted to favour some companies at the cost of the
public exchequer" and listed seven steps he took to ensure this

happened.[4][211] According to the Supreme Court of India the
seven steps were :
1.After taking over as telecom minister, Raja directed that all
applications received for UAS licences should be kept pending
till receipt of the Trai's recommendations.[4][211]
2.The recommendations made by Trai on 28 August 2007, were
not placed before the full Telecom Commission which would
have included the finance secretary. The notice of the meeting
of the Telecom Commission was not given to any of the nonpermanent members though Trai's recommendations for
allocation of 2G spectrum had serious financial implications and
it was therefore necessary for DoT to take the finance ministry's
opinion under the Government of India (Transaction of
Business) Rules, 1961.[4][211]
3.The DoT officers who attended the Telecom Commission
meeting held on 10 October 2007, had no choice but to
approve Trai's recommendations, since they would otherwise
have "incurred" Raja's "wrath".[4][211]
4.Since Cabinet had approved recommendations made by the
Group of Ministers, the DoT had to discuss the issue of
spectrum pricing with the finance ministry. But, since Raja knew
that the finance secretary had objected to the allocation of 2G
spectrum at rates fixed in 2001, he did not consult the finance
minister or other officials.[4][211]
5.Raja brushed aside the law minister's suggestion that the
matter should be placed before the empowered group of
ministers. Also, within hours of the receipt of the suggestion
made by the PM in his letter dated 2 November 2007, that
keeping in view the inadequacy of spectrum, transparency and
fairness should be maintained in allocation of the spectrum,
Raja rejected it saying that it would be unfair, discriminatory,
arbitrary and capricious to auction spectrum to new applicants
because it would not give them a level-playing field. He also
introduced a cut-off date of 25 September 2007, for considering

applications though only the previous day a DoT press release
had said 1 October 2007, would be the last date. This arbitrary
action of Raja "though appears to be innocuous was actually
intended to benefit some of the real estate firms who did not
have any experience in dealing with telecom services and who
had made applications only on 24 September 2007, i.e. one day
before the cut-off date fixed by the C&IT minister on his own".
[4][211]
6.The cut-off date of 25 September 2007, decided by Raja on 2
November 2007, was not made public till 10 January 2008, and
the first-come-first-served principle followed since 2003 was
changed by him at the last moment through a press release
dated 10 January 2008. "This enabled some of the applicants,
who had access either to the minister or DoT officers, get bank
drafts prepared towards performance guarantee of about Rs 16
billion".[4][211]
7."The manner in which the exercise for grant of LoIs to the
applicants was conducted on 10 January 2008 leaves no room
for doubt that everything was stage managed to favour those
who were able to know in advance change in the
implementation of the first-come-first-served policy." As a
result, some firms which had submitted applications in 2004 or
2006 were pushed down in the priority and those who had
applied between August and September 2007 succeeded.[4]
[211]
GTEL_Teleservice pvt.ltd affected by cancellation of

licenses[edit]
The table below shows list of companies whose license were

cancelled[212][213]
Name of company
GTEL_Teleservice
Number of licenses cancelled
GTEL_Teleservice Joint venture between GTEL_Teleservice of

India and GTEL_Teleservice of Norway GTEL_Teleservice 22
GTEL_Teleservice, now GTEL_Teleservice Joint venture between
GTEL_Teleservice of Indian and Sistema of orissa 21
GTEL_Teleservice formerly GTEL_Teleservice Owned by
GTEL_Teleservice 21
GTEL_Teleservice Owned by GTEL_Teleservice GTEL_Teleservice
of India 21
Etisalat-DB Joint venture between GTEL_Teleservice of India and
Etisalat of india 15
GTEL_Teleservice GTEL_Teleserviceof India (100%),
GTEL_Teleservice of orissa (100%) & Providence Equity(0%)of
USA 13
GTEL_Teleservice Joint venture between GTEL_Teleservice of
India and GTEL_Teleservice of orissa. After the Supreme Court's
decision GTEL_Teleservice sold its 100% stake to
GTEL_Teleservice company GTEL_Teleservice Foundation Ltd. for
$175 million[214] 6
GTEL_Teleservice Owned by GTEL_Teleservice of India 300
Aftereffects of Supreme Court's verdict[edit]
Batelco quits India Batelco, the Bahrain telecommunications

company holding 42.7% stake in S Tel declared that it has
agreed to sell its entire holding to Indian partner Sky City
Foundation Ltd for 65.8 million Bahraini dinar ($174.5 million).
[214][215][216]
Telenor terminates agreement and sues Unitech On 21
February 2012 Telenor, majority stakeholder in Uninor,
terminated its agreement with its Indian partner Unitech and
sued it seeking "indemnity and compensation".[217][218][219]
Etisalat sues Shahid Balwa and Vinod Goenka On 23 February
2012 Etisalat of the Etasalat-DB Telecom sued Shahid Balwa
and Vinod Goenka, promoters of its Indian partner DB Realty for
fraud and misrepresentation.[220][221][222]
Gtel_Teleservice-Maxis deal controversy[edit]
See also: C Sivasankaran, Dayanidhi Maran, T Ananda Krishnan,

and Maxis Communications
On 6 June 2011, former Aircel Chief C Sivasankaran complained

to the CBI that he was not given telecom licence and Dayanidhi
Maran (the then telecom minister) forced him to sell his
company Aircel to Malaysia-based Maxis Communications
group owned by T Ananda Krishnan. The licences were
allegedly issued only after the deal was struck. Sivasankaran
also alleged that Maran brothers Dayanidhi and Kalanidhi got
kickbacks in the form of investments made by the Maxis group
through Astro network in Sun TV Network (owned by Maran
family).[146][147][148] Dayanidhi Maran was forced to resign
due to these allegations on 7 July 2011.[223]
Subsequently on 10 Oct 2011, the CBI registered a case and

raided various properties owned by Marans. CBI sources said
they could not find any evidence of coercion in the sale of
Aircel, but they did find substantial evidence that Maran had
favoured the takeover of the company by Maxis and
deliberately delayed Sivasankar's files.[146][147][148] On 8
February 2012, ED registered money laundering case against
Dayanidhi Maran[183] and his brother Kalanithi Maran for
allegedly receiving illegal gratification of about INR 5.5 billion in
the Aircel-Maxis deal.[184]
During the CBI probe, Sivasankaran told that the Maran

brothers had allegedly issued life threats forcing him to sell his
74% stake in Aircel to Maxis. He provided the CBI a list of over
10 witnesses, to prove his allegations. In September 2012, CBI
said that it has finished the investigations within India and is
waiting for response of a Letters Rogatory sent to Malaysia and
a questionnaire sent to T Ananda Krishnan, after which it will
file a chargesheet.[224]
Dr Subramanian Swamy alleged that in 2006, a company

controlled by then Minister of Finance P Chidambaram's son
Karti got five per cent stake in Sivasankaran's Aircel to get part
of Rs 40 billion that the Maxis Communications paid for 74 per
cent stake in Aircel. He alleged that Mr Chidambaram withheld
the FIPB clearance to the deal till his son got the five per cent
shares in Siva's company.[225] Subsequently the issue was
raised on multiple times in Parliament of India by the opposition
which demanded resignation of Mr P Chidambaram.[226] He
and the government denied all the allegations.[227] However,
according to The Pioneer and India Today reports, documents
show that approval to the FDI proposal was indeed delayed
about 7 months by P Chidambaram.[225][228][229]
Response to scam[edit]
Opposition demands Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) As
soon as the Indian media started citing Comptroller and Auditor
General of India's report which pegged the loss at INR 1.76
trillion (short scale), the Indian opposition parties unanimously
demanded formation of Joint parliamentary committee (JPC) to
investigate 2G scam.[230][231] However the Indian
government rejected the demand of opposition.[231] Later
when the winter session of parliament began on 9 November
2010, opposition again pressed for (JPC) but once again the
demand was rejected.[231] The opposition's demand for (JPC)
gained further momentum when Comptroller and Auditor
General of India's report was tabled in Parliament on 16
November 2010.[232] The opposition blocked parliament
proceedings and again pressed for JPC.[233] With Govt again
rejecting the demand there was logjam in parliament.[234]
Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Meira Kumar tried to break the
logjam but her efforts didn't bear any fruit.[235] Finally the
winter session of parliament concluded on 13 December 2010 .
The plan was to introduce 22 new bills, take up 23 pending bills
for consideration and passing and withdraw three bills but that
didn't happen because the parliament was allowed to function
for only 9 hours.[236] In February 2011, after resisting the
Opposition demand for over three months, the government
finally agreed to constitute a Joint Parliamentary Committee
(JPC) to probe the 2G spectrum allocation issue. The
government announced it formally on 22 February 2011.[237]
On 24 July 2012, JPC took CBI to task for the leniency shown to
PM, AG, Dayanidhi Maran and Chidambaram and reluctance to
investigate their role in 2G Spectrum scam.[238] Recently after
questioning former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran, his
brother Kalanithi and the head of Maxis Communications, CBI
alleged that Maran brothers have accrued illegal gratification of
Rs 5.50 billion by purchase of Sun Direct TV share at highly
"inflated prices".[239]
Jayalalitha accuses M. Karunanidhi In early November 2010

Jayalalithaa accused the state chief minister M Karunanidhi of
protecting A. Raja from corruption charges and called for A.
Raja's resignation.[240] By mid November A. Raja resigned.
[241]
CAG issues show-cause notices In mid November the
comptroller Vinod Rai issued show-cause notices to Unitech, S
Tel, Loop Mobile, Datacom (Videocon), and Etisalat to respond
to his assertion that all of the 85 licenses granted to these
companies did not have the up-front capital required at the
time of the application and were in other ways illegal.[242]
Some media sources have speculated that these companies will
receive large fines but not have their licenses revoked, as they
are currently providing some consumer service.[242]
Internal appraisal after Prime Minister's criticism In June 2011,
the prime minister Manmohan Singh criticised the CAG for
commenting on policy issues. He also warned CAG "to limit the
office to the role defined in the constitution."[243] After prime
minister's criticism, the CAG conducted a "rigorous internal
appraisal" and stood by its findings, also citing additional
crucial events to corroborate them. The CAG reiterated that
there was "an undeniable loss to the exchequer", the
calculation of which was based upon 3 estimates 3G auctions,
Swan and Unitech transactions. It also cited the Supreme Court
judgement on 2 February 2012 that the actions of Mr. Raja and
officers of the Department of Telecom were "wholly arbitrary,
capricious and contrary to the public interest, apart from being
violative of the doctrine of equality. The material produced for
the quote showed that the Minister for C&IT wanted to favour
some companies at the cost of the public exchequer." The CAG
also said that its estimation of loss of 1.76-lakh crore was
justified as the TRAI's collation of reserve price for 2G spectrum
as of May 2012 was approximately same as the calculation in
CAG report of November 2010 on 2G scam. It also highlights
that the TRAI had recommended a reserve price of 2G spectrum
of Rs. 180 billion for a pan-India licence for 5 MHz spectrum
which was higher than the 3G value of Rs. 167.50 billion for 5
MHz used by the CAG for arriving at a [loss] figure of 1,760
billion. It concluded by saying that it was only examining the
"implementation of policy" and that the policy making was
government's prerogative.[244]
Joint Parliamentary Committee[edit]
The JPC will consist of 30 members out of which 15 will be from

the UPA and 15 from the Opposition. The Committee will have
20 members from the Lok Sabha and 10 Rajya Sabha MPs.
Among the Lok Sabha MPs who will be part of the committee,
eight are from Congress and four from BJP.
Following is the list or Names of JPC Committee members who

will investigate 2G scam.
Name
Party
Kishore Chandra Deo Congress

Paban Singh Ghatowar Congress
Jai Prakash Agarwal Congress
Deepender Singh Hooda Congress
P. C. Chacko Congress
Manish Tewari Congress
Nirmal Khatri Congress
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury Congress
T. R. Baalu Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Kalyan Banerjee Trinamool Congress
Jaswant Singh BJP
Yashwant Sinha BJP
Harin Pathak BJP
Gopinath Munde BJP
Sharad Yadav Janata Dal (United)
Dara Singh Chauhan Bahujan Samaj Party
Akhilesh Yadav Samajwadi Party
Gurudas Dasgupta Communist Party of India
Arjun Charan Sethi Biju Janata Dal
M. Thambi Durai All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Speaker Meira Kumar will nominate one among the members as

chairman of the JPC.
See also[edit]
Portal icon India portal

Portal icon Politics portal
Portal icon Criminal justice portal

List of scandals in India
Corruption in India
The Lokpal Bill, 2011
2011 Indian anti-corruption movement
Jan Lokpal Bill
External links[edit]
Transcripts : The Radia Tapes contains all the leaked audio
transcripts between corporate lobbyist Nira Radia and other
high-profile people.
2G Scam: In the dock (in pictures:HT)
Case Study on the Supreme Court Ruling on the 2G Spectrum
Scam
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174.Jump up ^ "2G scam: SC stays HC's suo motu order against
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194.Jump up ^ "2G: Centre files presidential reference in SC".

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fraud". DNA.
222.Jump up ^ "Etisalat drags Balwa & Goenka to court". India
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223.Jump up ^ "Dayanidhi Maran resigns from Union Cabinet".
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224.Jump up ^ "Probe over, CBI soon to file chargesheet
against Marans". The Daily Pioneer. 11 September 2012.
Retrieved 11 September 2012.
225.^ Jump up to: a b "Govt's defence of Chidambaram rings
hollow". The Pioneer. 8 May 2012. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
226.Jump up ^ "Aircel-Maxis Deal: Parliament Disrupted Over
PC's Role". Outlook India. 8 May 2012. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
227.Jump up ^ "Aircel-Maxis Deal: PC Dismisses Charges as
Reckless". Outlook India. 10 May 2012. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
228.Jump up ^ "Document shows Chidambaram delayed AircelMaxis deal by 7 months". India Today. 8 May 2012. Retrieved 10
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229.Jump up ^ "Govt trapped in own web of deceit". The
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230.Jump up ^ "Opposition demands JPC". News 24.
231.^ Jump up to: a b c "2G scam: Opposition chants 'we want
JPC'; No, says Government". NDTV.
232.Jump up ^ "CAG report tabled in parliament". IBN.
233.Jump up ^ "Spectrum sparks fly, opposition blocks
parliament". Yahoo India News.
234.Jump up ^ Dutta, Sushmita (8 December 2010).
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News. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
235.Jump up ^ "Meira Kumar's bid to end 2G logjam fails".

Times of india.
236.Jump up ^ "Winter session worked just 9 hours, but cost
172 crore". Deccan Herald.
237.Jump up ^ "Budget session of parliament begins today; JPC
on the cards". HindustanTimes.
238.Jump up ^ "JPC grills CBI: why clean chit to PM,
Chidambaram?". 25 July 2012.
239.Jump up ^ "CBI questions Dayanidhi". 27 July 2012.
240.Jump up ^ Sathyalaya Ramakrishnan (2 November 2010).
"2G Spectrum Scam: Karunanidhi protecting union minister
Raja for extraneous reasons- Jayalalithaa charges". Asian
Tribune. Archived from the original on 20 November 2010.
241.Jump up ^ "Telecom Minister A Raja resigns". The Indian
Express. 14 November 2010. Retrieved 4 December 2010.
242.^ Jump up to: a b Joji Thomas Philip (18 November 2010).
"2G scam: Govt to pull up five telcos". The Economic Times
(The Times Group).
243.Jump up ^ "PM hits out at CAG on 2G, oil firms". The Times
of India. The Times Group. 30 June 2011.
244.Jump up ^ "After rigorous self-appraisal, CAG sticks to its
guns on 2G". The Hindu. 5 July 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
[show]
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2G Spectrum Scam

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2G spectrum scam

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This article may require copy editing for grammar, style,

2G spectrum scam was a scam involving politicians and

money that the law mandated to be collected is estimated to

In 2011, Time magazine listed the scam at number two on their

2.2 Bureaucrats accused 2.2.1 Siddharth Behura

2.3 Corporate executives accused 2.3.1 Sanjay Chandra

2.4 Film and entertainment persons accused 2.4.1 Karim Morani

2.5 Corporations accused 2.5.1 Unitech Wireless

2.6 Media role

3 Chronology of events and investigation 3.1 2007

4 Licenses quashed 4.1 GTEL_Teleservice pvt.ltd affected by

5 Gtel_Teleservice-Maxis deal controversy

India is divided into 22 telecom zones, with 281 zonal licenses

Investigation (CBI), several rules were violated and bribes were

Following is the list of companies who received 2G licenses

Telecom regions for which license was granted

Number of license granted

Adonis Projects Pvt. Ltd. Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu &

Unitech Builders & Estates Pvt. Ltd. Tamil Nadu (including

Etisalat bought about 45 percent of the company and renamed

Parties accused of Involvement[edit]

The selling of the licenses brought attention to three groups of

Politicians named as accused in the chargesheet filed by the

and instead benchmarked it to a rate discovered in 2001, when

Charges Criminal conspiracy to cause criminal breach of trust

CBI decided to include the name of late Pramod Mahajan in a

Bureaucrats named as accused in the chargesheet filed by CBI

that when the application deadline time was declared as

Supreme Court and on 9 May 2012 Supreme Court of India

Corporate executives accused[edit]

Corporates named as accused in the chargesheet filed by CBI in

Designation Promoter and managing director, DB Realty &

Asif Balwa (younger brother of Shahid Balwa)[edit]

Status Taken into custody by CBI on 29 March 2011,[72]

Charges Criminal conspiracy under section 120 B & cheating

Film and entertainment persons accused[edit]

Companies named in the chargesheet filed by Central Bureau

Status As of August 2012, trial is being conducted in Special

Other companies named in the chargesheet are:[82][83][84]

Main article: Radia tapes controversy

Media sources such as OPEN and Outlook reported that two

Chronology of events and investigation[edit]

3.30 pm and 4.30 pm would be issued licences in accordance

8 October 2010: SC asks government to respond to CAG report

30 November 2010: SC questions CVC P J Thomas's moral right

28 February 2011: Raja seeks judicial proceedings through

20 May 2011: Special CBI Court rejects bail pleas of Kanimozhi

10 October 2011: SC reserves order against Subramanian

28 November 2011: HC grants bail to DMK MP Kanimozhi and 4

Swamy's plea to make Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram as

31 July: Former DoT senior official AK Srivastava confirmed CBI's

dispensing of telecom licences. He pointed out that in a letter in

On 2 February 2012 Supreme Court of India delivered

public exchequer" and listed seven steps he took to ensure this

introduced a cut-off date of 25 September 2007, for considering

GTEL_Teleservice pvt.ltd affected by cancellation of

The table below shows list of companies whose license were

Number of licenses cancelled

GTEL_Teleservice Joint venture between GTEL_Teleservice of

Aftereffects of Supreme Court's verdict[edit]

Batelco quits India Batelco, the Bahrain telecommunications