The 2G spectrum scandal is turning out to be a multi-faced mystery with a new revelation surfacing every day. The latest shocker is the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s note to the prime minister, which seeks to highlight that the current Home Minister P Chidambaram, who was the finance minister then, could have prevented the illegal 2G spectrum allocations. The scam was enormous to begin with; it is getting bigger with the role of top ministers emerging.
There are even hints that the prime minister’s office was in the know of the illegalities but preferred to stay a mute spectator. This brings Prime Minister Manmohan Singh into the picture.
Firstpost gives you a quick recap of what the 2G case was really about, how it unfolded and who were the people initially implicated in the case.
People who’ve been implicated in the scam
Former telecom minister A Raja, who is believed to have pushed this rather flaky policy. In his defence Raja is stating that the allotment of spectrum was made on basis of recommendations by TRAI. Raja was arrested on 2 February, and charged with criminal conspiracy, cheating, abuse of office and forgery.
Siddhartha Behura, who was the secretary of the DoT then, has been charged with cheating and abuse of office.
RK Chandolia, who was the personal secretary of A Raja has been charged with cheating and abuse of office too.
On 8 February, the CBI also arrested Shahid Usman Balwa, Director of Swan Telecom Pvt Ltd, on charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery. Swan Telecom is believed to be front company for Anil Ambani’s Reliance Communications. In March, Asif Balwa, brother of Shahid Balwa, and Rajiv Agarwal from Kusegaon Fruits & Vegetables Pvt Ltd, were arrestd by the CBI. Balwa is alleged to have paid a bribe of nearly Rs 214 crore to A Raja for allotting licenses at throwaway prices.
The bribe was paid through a circitous route which involved the Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd company, Cineyug Films and Kalaignar Television in Chennai.
In April, the CBI followed it with arrests of Vinod Goenka, Director, Swan Telecom Pvt Ltd, for criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery, and the partner of Shahid Balwa in DB Realty, which had floated Swan Telecom in the first place.
The other persons who were arrested in the case were Sanjay Chandra Director, Unitech, Gautam Doshi Group MD, Reliance ADAG, Hari Nair Company Secy, Reliance ADAG and Surendra Pipara Senior VP, Reliance ADAG charged with abetment to cheating, bribing government servants and forgery.
Kalaingar Television is owned by Karunanidhi’s daughter Kanimozhi and his first wifeDayalu Ammal. While Kanimozhi was arrested when the CBI filed its second chargsheet, Dayalu Ammal was not because the CBI stated that she only speaks Tamil and thus could not be involved in the scam.
Kanimozhi, is charged with cheating, criminal conspiracy and accepting bribes. Along with her, Sharad Kumar the Managing Director of Kalaignar TV was also arrested on the same charges.
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