Former telecom minister A Raja and aides arrest over 2G spectrum allocation

Former Supreme Court judge Shivraj V. Patil, heading the single-man panel investigating the 2G spectrum allocation scam said that there was a serious lapse on the part of the governments in power since 2003. Telecom minister Kapil Sibal said the matter is now being looked into by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The findings of the report were as follows 1. The governments in power since 2003 the NDA and the UPA relied on wrong procedures for the spectrum allocation. 2. The report said that the decision to lease the 2G spectrum by the BJP-led government in 2003 was wrong. 3. The report further stated that the first-come-first basis policy adopted by the NDA government was seriously flawed. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had recommended a multi-stage bidding process for the spectrum allocation. 4. The Department of Telecom (DoT) turned a deaf ear to the suggestions of the both the Law and Finance ministry about the overpricing of the spectrum. 5. The committee recommended reforms in the allocation process, and asked for the guilty to be penalized. Mr. Sibal pointed out that the spectrum allocation process was initiated during the reign of the NDA government; the UPA government which came into power in 2004 was being wrongly implicated in the matter. According to the official audit institution of the country the Controller and Auditor General of India the losses incurred were in the range of $12.8 billion to $40 billion. These were directly a result of telecom minister, A. Rajas flawed policies for the allocation of the 2G spectrum. The minister has since been forced to resign, and was arrested in relation to the same. Former telecom secretary, Sidhartha Behura, and the personal secretary of Raja R.K. Chandolia were arrested by the CBI in connection with the scam. The duo has been charged with amassing unaccounted wealth that was way more than their known sources of income. They are believed to have been hand-in-glove with A. Raja in selling the 2G spectrum at rates that are much lower than their actual

market rate. The CBI is investigating the matter, and more details are bound to emerge over the coming weeks.

The Controller and Auditor General of India -- the official audit institution stated that loss of between $ 12.8 billion and $40 billion was as a result of Rajas policies implemented on the spectrum allocation. The former telecom minister A. Raja, who was managing the communications ministry was forced to resign on the basis of this audit report.