CBI charges ex telecom secretary, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone in new telecom probe
21 Dec 2012
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today filed charges against former telecom secretary Shyamal Ghosh and telecom majors Bharti Airtel and Vodafone in connection with alleged irregularities in spectrum allocation in 2002, during the NDA regime.
The CBI has charged the telecom official with criminal conspiracy to benefit the companies. However, the investigating agency has not implicated promoters or officials of the telecom companies.
GBI has pegged the loss at Rs846 crore, A K Singh, a lawyer for the CBI, told reporters.
He also said no executives of the companies were charged, but a former telecommunications ministry official was charged.
The latest CBI probe concerns alleged irregularities in allotting mobile spectrum in 2002 during the previous government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is now in opposition.
The investigation is a sequel to the 2008 telecom licensing scam that rocked the Congress Party-led government at the centre, after the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) said the government might have lost up to Rs1,76,000 crore due to sale of radio spectrum below market price.
CBI has charged 19 people and three companies in that case and their trials are going on.
The Supreme Court had, meanwhile, asked the CBI to investigate any possible irregularities in the granting of mobile permits from 2001 to 2007 as well.
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