The main witness in the 2G spectrum scam case and former chairman of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), Nripendra Misra, will depose before a trial court on Wednesday. Over the last few days, 2G defence lawyers have sharpened their telecom acumen by going through the bulky policies and Trai recommendations so that they can cross-examine Misra appropriately. According to a CAG estimate, the scam may have caused a loss to the exchequer to the tune of Rs 1.76 lakh crore.
“Nripendra Misra will be extensively examined by the defence. We have done a lot of homework to question him,” said senior advocate Majeed Memon.
Defence lawyers are looking at Misra as one of the most important witness as he is the first high ranking officer to make an appearance in the trial court. He was the Trai chairman between March 2006 and 2009. He was secretary, Department of Telecom (DoT), before that.
“I have been reading the National Telecom Policy, and there are so many technical aspects that had to be studied — all in preparation for the upcoming deposition of Nripendra Misra,” said Vijay Aggarwal, senior advocate for DB Realty’s Shahid Balwa, and also for former personal secretary to A Raja, R K Chandolia.
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), meanwhile, has submitted the correspondence between Misra and the Department of Telecommunication officials, including former telecom secretaries, Siddhartha Behura and D S Mathur, in the court. Behura is one of the 14 accused in 2G case, along with Raja. Mathur, who's also a witness in the case, will be called for cross-examination next week.
Misra, in a letter to Behura on January 14, 2008, had clarified the position of Trai on the entry of new service providers, according to the correspondence between the two that was submitted in the court. The entry of new service providers has always been linked to the availability of spectrum, and information along with the criteria for setting up of a queue system needs to be made public, Misra had written.
Earlier, on November 14, 2006, Misra had written to the then telecom secretary, Mathur, asking him to reconsider and seek legal opinion of the Law Ministry on the issue of introducing a new service provider for existing as well as for new category of services. On July 1, 2008, Misra had written to Behura that in order to “avoid any legal complications in future”, the regulator was of the view that “in case the terms and conditions of the existing licences require any modification, restriction or expansion of scope, the matter can only be finalised after obtaining the recommendations of the Trai.”
Misra had also corresponded with industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla after the latter complained to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about the delay in getting licences for Idea Cellular operations. Birla in his letter, a copy of which was sent to Misra, had said, "government inaction in adhering to policy cannot become a basis for displacing Idea. As I have earlier emphasised, despite seniority and merits of its applications, Idea remains the only large and pioneering operator with a curtailed footprint, even as its contemporaries operate nationally.” Misra had told Birla, "I do hope DoT will take note of the pleadings in your letter."
