Decision on Airtel, Vodafone deferred again

CBI asked to file firms’ board resolutions on additional spectrum; Court to take cognizance of charge sheet on Feb 19

The trial court in the spectrum scam on Monday asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to file the board resolutions of companies seeking additional spectrum, in relation to the chargesheet filed against Bharti Airtel and Vodafone on December 21, 2012.

The court has now fixed February 19 for taking cognizance of the chargesheet. This is the fourth time the court has deferred its order on this matter. On January 30, Judge O P Saini had granted an extension to CBI on its plea that it needed time to peruse the documents related to this case.

“Spectrum is a costly thing. COAI (Cellular Operators Association of India) was pursuing their (companies’) case for additional spectrum, which means that companies must have requested for the same,” Saini said.

He asked the lawyers to present the papers, which will establish that the companies wanted the additional spectrum above 6.2 MHz.

Lawyers associated with the ongoing 2G spectrum allocation cases said these were delaying tactics, since the companies involved are listed entities, with huge stature. This is the first time Saini has asked for additional documents before taking cognizance of a chargesheet in any of the 2G related cases. “The law of cognizance means the court is applying its mind to the case and considering it fit enough to issue summons. It is healthy if the court is deferring the summons till it is satisfied with the documents, although it is not in consistency with the court’s style of functioning so far in these cases,” said Aman Lekhi, senior advocate.

In what could mark a turning point in this case, legal counsels said company documents might pinpoint people through whom the request was made.

CBI’s chargesheet had put the blame on three companies and no representatives of the company. “There could be some pressure to understand why individuals have not been named,” said a senior lawyer who did not wish to be identified.

CBI has alleged that former telecom secretary Shyamal Ghosh, in conspiracy with former telecom minister Pramod Mahajan, abused his position and showed undue favour to beneficiary companies, causing a loss of Rs 846.44 crore to the exchequer.

The investigating agency alleged this also led to incidental gain to other telcos by way of charging an additional one per cent of adjusted gross revenue instead of charging the required two per cent for additional spectrum from 6.2MHz to 10 MHz.