CBI court allows I-T dept to quiz six 2G scam accused

A special CBI court on Thursday allowed the income tax department officials to grill six 2G scam accused. The tax officials will interrogate the accused to unearth their sources of income and other financial transactions, which were used to allegedly secure 2G spectrum licences.

A special CBI court on Thursday allowed the income tax department officials to grill six 2G scam accused. The tax officials will interrogate the accused to unearth their sources of income and other financial transactions, which were used to allegedly secure 2G spectrum licences.

HT Image

CBI special judge OP Saini allowed the tax department application to quiz former telecom minister A Raja, Swan Telecom promoters Shahid Usman Balwa and Vinod Goenka and three Reliance ADAG top officials — Gautam Doshi, Hari Nair and Surendra Pipara.

The tax department had sought separate interrogation of Raja. The department had allegedly discovered suspicious transactions in Raja's accounts. “We need to interrogate him in connection with his family income,” senior standing counsel for the I-T department Sanjeev Rajpal said.

On the other hand, Balwa will be interrogated by tax officials from Mumbai regarding his share holding and equity in Etisalat DB. Meanwhile, the third application was moved on behalf of the additional commissioner of income tax, Mumbai, to quiz Balwa, Goenka and three ADAG officials.

According to source, the tax department is probing the Balwa's real estate empire along with the telecom company. The department will grill the Reliance officials regarding equity structure in Swan Telecom, and other off shoot companies.

The court had on July 18 also allowed the CBI to interrogate afresh Raja, former telecom secretary Siddhartha Behura and Gautam Doshi in the lock up of Patiala House court complex for an hour each. “Our applications have been allowed by the court and these six persons will be interrogated from July 27 to July 29,” Rajpal said.