It is another to give them free spectrum without transparency. It is one thing to argue that the public companies should be compensated for subsidising rural telephony. Among the reported beneficiaries were Tata Teleservices, Unitech, Datacom/Videocon and Loop Telecom.įinally, DoT gave away spectrum worth Rs 37,000 crore (Rs 3.7 billion) free to several companies, including BSNL and MTNL. The Department of Telecommunications should have levied penalties of up to Rs 20 lakh (Rs 2 million) a week for delays exceeding 26 weeks, or cancelled the licences. Among the companies here was Anil Ambani's Reliance Communications which held a big chunk in Swan Telecom.įourth, the licensees were to roll out 10 percent of their networks within a year and all of it within three years. Third, some industrialists were allowed to conceal their equity holdings in different telecom companies, thus violating the guideline that nobody can hold more than a 10 percent stake in two telecom service providers in the same circle. Second, the deadlines for the receipt of applications were changed to favour certain business houses - in violation of the conditions. Some were resold at Rs 12,000 crore (Rs 1.2 billion) within a few weeks. Raja used four devices or methods to inflict it.įirst, he priced the spectrum licences at a ridiculously low Rs 1,651 crore (Rs 165.1 million) each. The mind-boggling Rs 1.77 lakh crore loss to the public equals more than four times the budget of the United Progressive Alliance's flagship social programme, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. Bofors, which involved bribes of Rs 64 crore (Rs 640 million), looks like a lark. The scandals of the past two decades pale beside this, including the two stock market scams (19), the coffins scandal (1999), the Sukh Ram scandal (1996), the defence kickbacks exposed by Tehelka (2001), and numerous Special Economic Zone-driven land grabs since then. The underselling of licences in the 2G scam has caused the public exchequer a loss of between Rs 66,000 crore (Rs 660 billion) and Rs 1.77 lakh crore (Rs 1,770 billion), according to the Comptroller and Auditor General. The scandals are eating away into the legitimacy of the system of governance. But that's because most of the media has blacked out the story despite the claim that the Fourth Estate is a guardian of the truth and a watchdog of democracy. The two scams haven't fused in public discourse. Sanghvi, in particular, wrote a column in the Hindustan Times, relying heavily on Radia, and going by two conversations, virtually eating out of her hand.īoth the 2G and the Radia tapes scandals show that India's precious public resources, belonging to the national commons, are being undersold or plundered through manipulation by venal businessmen and corrupt politicians, often with journalists' help. Here too, Radia coaxed or subtly pressured journalists to support Mukesh Ambani's view. One of their main objectives was to ensure that the now-disgraced A Raja would be given the telecommunications portfolio.Ī second issue was the June 2009 Bombay high court judgment on the dispute between the Ambani brothers over the pricing of natural gas from the Krishna-Godavari Basin. The conversations show that Radia, with her formidable networking skills and influence, tried to recruit Hindustan Times's Vir Sanghvi and NDTV's Barkha Dutt, among others, as mediators who would influence the distribution of key portfolios during the formation of the United Progressive Alliance ministry in mid-2009. They contain the most damaging evidence ever to have emerged of gross violations of ethics and political propriety by influential journalists. The 104 conversations, from which the transcripts are drawn, are not even 2 percent of the 5,851 calls tapped from Radia's phone now being analysed by official agencies. Most of those who have been taped haven't denied they are genuine. They are widely available in audio transcript format on the Internet.Īlthough their veracity isn't forensically established, they prima facie appear authentic. The conversations, wire-tapped by the Income Tax department on a tip-off by the Central Board of Direct Taxes, are part of the official record in the 2G case before the Supreme Court - and hence in the public domain. Outlook and Open magazines have reproduced partial transcripts of telephone conversations between Niira Radia, a corporate lobbyist for the Tata and Mukesh Ambani groups, and several top journalists, industrialists and politicians, which show journalists playing political roles well beyond the legitimate bounds of their profession.
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