‘Imaginary loss’ no ground for case

Sahid Balwa-promoted Swan Telecom rubbished the CAG report in the 2G spectrum scam, claiming that an “imaginary loss” of Rs 1.76 lakh crore could not become ground for its prosecution.

Sahid Balwa-promoted Swan Telecom rubbished the CAG report in the 2G spectrum scam, claiming that an “imaginary loss” of Rs 1.76 lakh crore could not become ground for its prosecution.

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“The act of causing possible and hypothetical loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the state exchequer, which the government is denying, cannot be a ground for criminal prosecution of a company,” said Amit Desai, counsel for the telecom company.

Desai told a special CBI court that the affordable billing of 'one paisa per second' could not have become a reality had the government auctioned 2G licenses as suggested by the CAG.

Desai told CBI judge OP Saini that courts should not interfere with policies of the government. The policy may be bad but cannot be “criminal” as the state has to ensure the welfare of citizens, besides revenue generation, said Desai.

"The company, being a juristic person, did not commit any criminal act. At best, the CBI could have used it for identifying Balwa and Goenka," added Desai. “The company on its own did not commit any criminal act and the chargesheet doesn’t specify any such act,” he said.

He argued before the court that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is a “specialist” body on the issue and the government did the right thing by following its guidelines.

“The CAG is an advisory body that accounted notional and presumptive loss, which cannot be relied on for criminal prosecution,” Said Desai.