The Indian government has told the Supreme Court that it has no objection to the court monitoring the 2G licence scam probe, according to local reports.
One or two people are expected to be appointed to assist the court in supervising the probe by the…
The Indian government has told the Supreme Court that it has no objection to the court monitoring the 2G licence scam probe, according to local reports.
One or two people are expected to be appointed to assist the court in supervising the probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
In 2009, the CBI filed a case in the allocation of underpriced 2G spectrum in 2008 to several cellcos, after the chief vigilance commissioner (CVC) asked for a comprehensive CBI probe. Several officials at the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) are believed to have been involved in the scam, including former telecom minister A. Raja, who eventually resigned a few weeks ago.
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), the government’s auditor, has issued a report saying that the 2G scam caused a Rs1.76trn (US$40bn) loss to the government, after licences were sold to mobile operators based on a price determined in 2001.
But the investigations into the scam will not be supervised by chief vigilance commissioner P J Thomas, reports local newspapers. Thomas reportedly decided to distance himself from the probe, after his objectivity was recently questioned.
In early September, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), one of the two major Indian political parties, criticised the appointment of telecom secretary Thomas as the new CVC, saying it was aimed at covering up the 2G scam.
But Home Minister P. Chidambaram reportedly said that Thomas’ name was cleared in the probe and that he joined the telecom ministry last October, therefore arguing that there could be no conflict of interest regarding the 2G spectrum.
The BJP’s objections over Thomas’ appointment also concerned his alleged involvement in the palm oil import scam in 1991-1992 as well as in irregularities in Commonwealth Games projects, according to local reports.