2G scam: Shahid Balwa seeks to testify before JPC

Swan telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa, currently jailed as a co-accused in the 2G spectrum scam, has written to the Joint Parliamentary Committee probing the scam asking to testify before it, according to several unconfirmed reports.

"In the interest of the investigation, I should be called to depose before the JPC. I request you (JPC) to consider my request to depose before the panel at the earliest and at a time of your convenience," Balwa has been quoted as saying in the letter.

It has been rumoured for some time that Balwa is itching to turn approver in the case. His testimony could implicate several senior UPA government leaders, including perhaps the prime minister himself.

Balwa is named as co-accused along with former communications minister A Raja in the case, relating to irregular allocation of airwaves to telecom companies in 2008-09, causing huge losses to the exchequer.

Balwa, director of DB Realty, had floated Swan Telecom, which was a beneficiary of allegedly irregular 2G spectrum allocation. It is alleged that Balwa, due to his proximity to then telecom minister A Raja, managed to win licences for 13 of the 22 circles across India.

The CBI's first chargesheet on 2 April had named, besides Raja, former telecom secretary Siddharth Behura, Shahid Balwa, Raja's aide R K Chandolia, Swan Telecom's Vinod Goenka, Unitech's Sanjay Chandra and three executives of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group - Gautam Doshi, Hari Nair and Surendra Pipara.