CBI gears up to take 2G probe back to 2001

Complying with the directions of the Supreme Court, the Central Bureau of Investigation is likely to register two preliminary enquiries to enable it to investigate the allocation of 2G spectrum from 2001 onwards.

The period would cover the NDA government, which went out of office in May 2004. in In a 16 December order, the apex court had directed the investigation into the 2G spectrum scam from the period 2001 to 2008.

The probe will also include the grant of dual technology - CDMA and GSM – to some players, and the grant of huge loans by nationalised banks to telecom companies against the security of their spectrum licenses.

The Supreme Court had earlier asked the CBI to state whether the ambit of its probe into the 2G scam should be widened to include what had happened in 2001 during the NDA regime when the 'first come, first served' policy was adopted as the basis for allocating spectrum.

While pronouncing the order, the Supreme Court bench comprising justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly gave the CBI the liberty to register another first information report (FIR) on irregularities, if any, committed during the BJP-led NDA regime in 2001.

The existing FIR in the 2G scam was registered by the CBI on 21 October 2009 against ''unnamed persons'' under the Prevention of Corruption Act.