NEW DELHI: Willing to play a role in examining the 2G spectrum scam, Corporate Affairs Minister

Salman Khurshid today said his ministry will inspect the books of companies involved in the muddle
provided a reference is made to it. 

"We don't want to look over anxious," he said, adding, "if somebody (an authority) refers it, we will get into
it...We will not go beyond company law violations, if the authorities that are already carrying out
investigations ask us to look into it. We will see if there are non-compliance issues".  

Khurshid, however, clarified that his ministry would not do anything which would hampering ongoing
investigations by different government agencies. 

"We will not stand there and fish to see which company can be baited," he added.  

When asked if the MCA will take any suo moto action as in the case of Unitech Wireless, of which the
Ministry is carrying out technical scrutiny, the Minister said that it was routine inspection.  

"Technical scrutiny is carried out by Registrar of Companies regularly. It's in their area, they will do it. We
have in-house mechanism to do things. Where there is no issue of compliance, we don't meddle,"
Khurshid said. 

Official auditor Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in its report on the 2G spectrum allocation, which
was tabled in Parliament recently, named several companies including Anil Ambani-led Reliance
Communications , as beneficiaries of the spectrum scam that is estimated to have caused the
Government exchequer a loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore. 

Among the other industrial houses that benefited from 2G spectrum policy were Unitech, Datacom (now
Videocon), S-Tel, Swan and Loop Telecom, which were given licences in January 2008.  

On the issue of spectrum allocation to existing operators beyond the contracted quantity of 6.2 Mhz, CAG
has found Sunil Mittal-led Bharti to be the biggest beneficiary, among private players, with 32.4 Mhz in 13
circles, followed by Vodafone-Essar with 19.6 Mhz. 

The auditor has pegged revenue loss on account of new licences at up to Rs 1.40 lakh crore besides
36,993 crore on account of additional spectrum allotment to the existing operators.  

The sensational CAG report and the political brawl that followed, also led to the resignation of Telecom
Minister A Raja . 

Besides CAG, investigating agencies like Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement
Directorate are looking into the scam. 

The scam has also raised a political storm with the Opposition Parties stalling Parliament and demanding
a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe the matter.
NEW DELHI: After perusing the relevant files in the Prime Minister’s Office, solicitor general
Gopal Subramaniam on Thursday emphatically told the Supreme Court that every letter of
Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy had been dealt with adequately and responded to. 

Swamy had on November 29, 2008, sent a petition to PM Manmohan Singh seeking sanction to
prosecute then telecom minister A Raja on the basis of available evidence linking the latter to
the 2G spectrum allocation scam. But he got a response from the Department of Personnel and
Training on March 19, 2010. Swamy had claimed that he had sent five reminders to the PM on
this issue. 

The SG began the day’s argument saying, “I am so glad I said (on Tuesday) that I will consult
and come back. I have gone through the entire records and I can say with confidence that every
letter of Swamy has been dealt with. Swamy has got all the replies. He has been answered
adequately.” 

With one of the senior-most law officers speaking authoritatively, a Bench comprising Justices G
S Singhvi and A K Ganguly wanted to know from Swamy whether he had received responses to
all his communications. 

Swamy said he had received only one on March 19, 2010 and another from Raja. TOI checked
with government officials who had dealt with the files and they said Swamy was right. There was
no response sent to Swamy on the issue of sanction except the letter dated March 19. All other
letters were mere acknowledgments of his letters to the PM, they said. 

So, did the SG put a wrong fact before the court? And was this the reason why the bench
insisted on an affidavit rather than adjudicating the legal issue raised by Swamy by hearing oral
arguments? And will the SG be able to make the government file an affidavit on behalf of the
PM stating that all letters from Swamy had been adequately responded to? 
These are some of the questions with serious ramifications which the government has to keep
in mind before filing its affidavit on Saturday in Swamy’s petition seeking a direction to the PM
for sanction to prosecute then telecom minister.

DUBAI: UAE telecom giant Etisalat's Indian subsidiary could be in jeopardy after getting caught up in 2G
telecommunications scandal, a news report said here.  

The scandal has surfaced at a time when Etisalat is making efforts to raise $8 billion (29.38 billion
dirhams) to fund its international expansion plans, the National Newspaper report said. 

Etisalat DB India operates in 15 Indian districts and has more than 40,000 subscribers under the Cheers
Mobile brand since services were launched last April.  

It was among companies mentioned in the report of government auditor Comptroller and Auditor General
(CAG) after a firm it purchased came under a cloud. 

Etisalat acquired a 45 percent stake in Swan Telecom for USD 900 million in March last year in a deal
that included management control. 

The remaining 55 percent is held by two Indian companies, Dynamix Balwas Group and Genex Exim, the
report said. 

In a swift action against new telecom players who were given licences in 2008, Indian telecom regulator
TRAI yesterday asked the government to cancel 62 licences given to five companies including Etisalat
(Swan), Uninor and Videocon. 

The recommendation for this strong action was made to the Telecom Ministry owing to the companies'
non-compliance or irregular roll-out of network, as laid down in the contract.  

The action comes amid the CAG slamming the Telecom Ministry for irregularity and impropriety in giving
licences to new players in 2008, causing a loss of a whopping Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the exchequer.  

Facing allegations, the minister of communications and information technology, A. Raja resigned on
Sunday following the release of the report. 

Reports here suggest the Indian telecoms regulator could force Etisalat to pay a penalty or relinquish
some or all of its licences to operate in the country.  

Meanwhile, Etisalat has revealed more than USD 1. 44 billion (5.3 billion dirhams) of existing debt in
advance of the company's issuance of USD 8 billion in bonds to help it acquire the Kuwaiti telecoms
operator Zain. 

The operator revealed its total debt figures in a bond prospectus filed to the London Stock Exchange last
week, along with key figures previously unavailable in the company's financial statements.  

Etisalat has begun the due diligence process to acquire a 51 percent stake in Zain in a deal worth about
USD 11 billion at 1.7 Kuwaiti dinars per share. 

The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of next year and would make Etisalat one of the largest
telecoms operators in the world.