Supreme Court seeks explanations as CBI muddles 2G probe

The 2G spectrum allocation case took an unexpected turn following reports that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director Ranjit Sinha has sought to stay the trial of three top officials of Anil Ambani-controlled ADAG and the company and that the agency has started fresh inquiry into the Rs1,700-crore land deal between Tata Realty and Unitech in 2007.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought an explanation on reports that CBI director Ranjit Sinha had sought to stay the trial of three top officials of Anil Ambani-controlled ADAG and the company on grounds that the "chargesheet against them was filed on a wrong premise and needs a re-look".

The unexpected twist to the high profile 2G spectrum allocation scam when the SC bench headed by Justice H L Dattu was perusing the CBI's status report on the progress of the probe on Tuesday.

CBI on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that charge sheet against former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran in the Aircel-Maxis deal will be filed shortly.

A SC bench said ''after the opinion of Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, CBI has talked about the filing of the charge sheet at the end of the particular month''.

The attorney general, however, disagreed with the views of CBI director Ranjit Sinha to drop the prosecution.

Senior advocate K K Venugopal, who placed the status report on behalf of the CBI, tried to allay fears that the agency was moving forward for filing charges. He explained the sequence of events for delay due to difference of opinion between CBI director and director of prosecution on filing of charges which was finally decided after AG's opinion.

''The Attorney General has concurred with the opinion of director of prosecution and not with the CBI director,'' Venugopal said, adding that ''all steps have been taken for filing of the charge sheet and that is going to be done''. He said the CBI received Rohatgi's 27 July opinion on 4 August.

CBI had earlier said that its domestic investigation was complete but was facing hurdles in its overseas probe as it was not getting cooperation from Malaysian authorities. The deal also involved Kuala Lumpur-based business tycoon T Ananda Krishnan.

The CBI, meanwhile, started a fresh inquiry into the Rs1,700-crore land deal between Tata Realty and Unitech in 2007.

It was alleged that the advance given by Tata Realty to Unitech was used for obtaining a telecom licence during the 2G telecom spectrum allocation scam. The CBI is also investigating the allocation of dual technology spectrum to Tata Teleservices in February 2008. Both the issues were part of the ongoing probe into the 2G spectrum scam, the agency told the Supreme Court.

The CBI will also analyse a report that the Special Fraud Investigation Organisation (SFIO) had filed last year, alleging the realty deal between Tatas and Unitech in 2007 could have been aimed at funding Unitech's telecom licence.

A senior CBI official said the fresh probe was being initiated because new facts had come to light and it was felt certain matters required more investigation. So far, three charge sheets, including a supplementary one, have been filed in the 2G spectrum scam. If CBI finds any incriminating evidence in the case, it will file a new charge sheet in the matter directly, under the existing first information report.

The agency will also withhold the transfer of the investigation officer in the 2G spectrum probe on the orders of the apex court and get a new prosecutor to replace U U Lalit, who has been elevated as a Supreme Court judge.

The CBI had, in October 2011, told a joint parliamentary committee that there was no evidence of any irregularity in the Tata-Unitech deal and that the matter couldn't be linked to the spectrum scam. It had earlier asked senior Tata group officials to examine whether Tata Realty's Rs1,700-crore advance to Unitech was for real estate projects or linked to the 2G licence payments through front companies.

The CBI, however, had found that Tata Realty had made an advance payment to Unitech in October 2007, following the signing of a memorandum of understanding, to buy 527 acres in Gurgaon. Subsequently, an unutilised amount of about Rs1,000 crore was returned to Tata Realty.