The Central Bureau of Investigation will soon send a formal request to Switzerland to help the agency in tracking down the alleged money trail of Swan Telecom, a company chargesheeted in the allocation of 2G spectrum.
Minutes after the Supreme Court dismissed the bail plea of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam member of Parliament Kanimozhi, an accused in 2G scam case, the three other accused, including Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa, withdrew their pleas for similar relief from the Delhi high court.
Here are some of the top executives and politicians who have been linked to the 2G spectrum scam in India.
The Supreme Court has granted bail to five corporate executives in 2G spectrum case.
The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) has pulled up the company secretaries of two telecom companies whose names have been mentioned in the Comptroller and Auditor General's (CAG's) report on the controversial allotment of airwaves. The two officials named in the report are Hari Nair, representing Swan Telecom, and Vidyadhar Chakradeo, the company secretary of Loop Telecom.
The 2G-spectrum trial entered its second day on Monday with Public Prosecutor Advocate A K Singh putting up a myriad of questions to Reliance Group President A N Sethuraman in a bid to establish a link between the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group and Swan Telecom.
The corporate honchos who are behind bars for their alleged involvement in the 2G scam will have to celebrate Diwali in jail as the Supreme Court on Friday deferred the hearing on their bail pleas to Octocer 31.
The UAE-based Etisalat issued proceedings on Monday towards winding up its Indian joint venture Etisalat DB Telecom, earlier called Swan Telecom. The company was doing it "so that there can be a proper and orderly end to the business of Etisalat DB Telecom that is supervised by the Indian Courts", it said in a statement.
In contrast to their lavish lifestyle, all the five spent their night in a 90 square feet Tihar prison cell.
The five were not arrested during the probe into the case.
"The investigation did not not reveal any evidence either oral or documentary to inculpate Sh. Anil Ambani in the structuring of different companies and transfer of funds," the agency said in its status report submitted to the Supreme Court on September 29.
Swan Telecom promoters Shahid Usman Balwa and Vinod Goenka, accused in the 2G case, were today granted three days exemption from personal appearance by a Delhi court as they have to consult lawyers in Mumbai for a cheating case filed against them by foreign partner Etisalat.
The ministry of corporate affairs - under new minister Murli Deora - has reopened for further investigation the cases of two companies allegedly involved in the unravelling 2G scam. A senior official said that the ministry was currently probing Swan Telecom and Loop Telecom.
A key 2G case witness and ex-aide of A Raja on Monday told a Delhi court that the former telecom minister was in touch with Swan Telecom promoters, Shahid Usman Balwa and Vinod Goenka and Unitech MD Sanjay Chandra and had cleared their projects during his stint with ministry of environment and forests in 2004-07.
Gautam Doshi, Surendra Pipara and Hari Nair, senior executives of the Reliance ADA Group who were granted bail on Wednesday by the Supreme Court in the 2G spectrum scam case, will provide major relief to their high-profile boss Anil Ambani.
A Delhi court on Tuesday dismissed the bail pleas of Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa, his cousin Asif Balwa and their associate Rajeev Agarwal in the 2G spectrum allocation case.
The answer to this million-dollar question may lie behind certain recent developments. Shahid Usman Balwa, Swan Telecom promoter and an accused in the 2G scam case, on May 18
Shahid U Balwa, one of the promoters of the leading real estate company, DB Realty, as well as the controversial Swan Telecom (now Etilisat DB Telecom), has been questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
The "CBI's heart beats for the Tatas", 2G scam accused Shahid Usman Balwa alleged in court today, questioning the agency's portrayal of the group as a "victim" of A. Raja's spectrum allocations.
Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa, chargesheeted in the 2G spectrum scam, today told a Delhi court that the CBI should have named Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as one of the witnesses in the case.
The department of telecommunication has sent notices to Etilsalat DB, along with other new operators for cancelling their licences, as it failed to start services even after two years of getting spectrum, which is a violation of the licence terms and conditions.
A senior official in the Telecom Ministry said the government is considering an exit option for the new telecom players who are struggling to roll out services.
A Delhi court on Friday dismissed the bail plea of Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa and former telecom minister A Raja's secretary R K Chandolia in the 2G spectrum allocation scam, saying they are "high ranking public servants" and may tamper with the probe. In not granting the relief, the judge also took into account the "initial stage of the investigation and other facts and circumstances of the case."
He denies that he plotted with former Telecom Minister A Raja and others to pocket 2G spectrum licence.
Former Telecom Minister A Raja was sent to CBI remand for three more days by a Delhi court which also extended the custody of Swan telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa for four days in the 2G spectrum case after the CBI said it wanted to confront them on the money trail.
Shahid Balwa's counsel has accused the CBI of adopting selective approach in arresting people in the case.
The developments came as the CBI custody of Raja, who was arrested by the investigating agency on February 2, ended on Thursday.
The Central Bureau of Investigation was on Wednesday allowed two days transit remand of Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa by a Mumbai court to take him to Delhi and confront him with former Telecom Minister A Raja, who is also in the agency's custody in connection with the 2G spectrum case.
'The CBI suspects A Raja of favouring Swan Telecom, a wing of DB Realty. A chain of firms connected to DB Realty transferred over Rs 200 crore to a television network connected to M Karunanidhi's immediate family....'
Former Telecom Minister A Raja had "misled" then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh regarding policy of first-come-first-served which was to be followed for allocation of 2G spectrum, Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday told a special court.
Mobile Telecommunications Company (Zain), the third largest telecom operator in West Asia and a leading operator in Africa, has initiated talks with several Indian telecom service providers to buy stakes.
The new telecom players in the country, which had received licences in January 2008 and were subsequently allocated spectrum, are ready to roll out services in the next three to four months.
Swan is one of the firms which got a licence at bargain-basement prices thanks to telecom minister A Raja.
The government on Tuesday started allocating GSM spectrum to new telecom players, commencing with the Tamil Nadu circle including Chennai, in a move that would infuse more competition in the mobile telephony space.Five new players -- Videocon-promoted Datacom, Idea Cellular, realty major Unitech, Swan Telecom and Loop Telecom -- have been given start-up 4.4 MHz GSM spectrum in Tamil Nadu circle.
In a move that will not augur well for companies which have been awarded 2G licences recently, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has rejected proposals by new telecom entrants for a relaxation of rollout obligations.
Tech Mahindra on Monday pipped IT giants Wipro and IBM to bag a Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion) outsourcing deal spread over 10 years from new telecom player Etisalat DB, which is in the process starting mobile services in India.
New telecom operators who have been given licences to operate pan-India GSM mobile services are all set to fight a bitter battle with the established GSM players like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular.
AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa on Tuesday demanded that Union Communications and IT Minister A Raja resign and face a probe on the 'spectrum allotment scam'.
Even more curious, while the law says foreigners can have only up to 74 per cent equity in a telecom firm in India, the 3G Information Memorandum says foreigners can bid without having Indian partners if they win the bid, they can then set up an Indian firm and comply with the rules.
Former telecom minister A Raja, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP Kanimozhi and 17 others were on Friday chargesheeted by the Enforcement Directorate in a special court in connection with a money-laundering case relating to the 2G spectrum allocation scam in which the party-run Kalaignar TV was allegedly paid Rs 200 crore by the promoters of Swan Telecom.
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