Former Telecom Minister Mr A. Raja had ignored the advice of his officers in the Department of Telecom repeatedly on issuing 2G licences to new players. The charge-sheet filed by the CBI gives details of a number of instances when Mr Raja overruled DoT officers' suggestion allegedly to favour a few companies.
For example, while deciding on the cut-off date for receiving new applications in 2007, the DoT's access service cell put up a note mentioning that if receipt of applications is to be discontinued, it needed to be told to the public through press release and proposed October 10, 2007 as the cut-off date. “However, Mr Raja, in pursuance of conspiracy and for ensuring better prospects for his favoured companies cut it short and decided the cut-off date to be October 1,” the CBI said.
DoT officers also brought to his attention the New Telecom Policy 1999, which mandates adequate availability of spectrum for allocating new licences. The charge-sheet says that the Telecom Minister did not review the availability of spectrum circle wise, despite being advised by the DoT officers. DoT officers, including the then Secretary also drew attention of the Minister which requires the DoT to seek TRAI recommendations on introduction of new operators in a service area.
“However, Raja, brushed aside the legal position and the mandate of the TRAI and arbitrarily decided on November 2, 2007 that the cut-off date to be September 25, 2007, thereby benefitting Unitech Wireless and Swan Telecom,” the CBI said.
Explaining the sequence of events on October 2, 2007 when the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, had written to Mr Raja seeking clarity on the 2G spectrum allocation policy, the CBI said the Telecom Minister brushed aside the PM's suggestion that spectrum availability has to be assessed before allocating new licences.
The charge-sheet stated that Mr Raja did not consult the Telecom Commission before replying to the PM. “Mr Raja, with the help of co-accused Mr R. K. Chandolia, and other staff, drafted a response to the PM and finalised it on the night of October 2. This important matter relating to policy decisions, which required a serious consideration by the DoT, in terms of the policy issues, was not even dealt with in the files of the department,” the CBI said.