Raja rejected DoT objection to grant licences at old rates

The prime accused in the 2G scam A Raja had allegedly rejected DoT's then Member (finance) Manju Madhavan’s written note opposing the grant of telecom licences and spectrum to applicants in 2007/8 at the 2001 rates.

The prime accused in the 2G scam A Raja had allegedly rejected Department of Telecommunications (DoT)’s then Member (finance) Manju Madhavan’s written note opposing the grant of telecom licences and spectrum to applicants in 2007/8 at the 2001 rates and recommending a detailed examination of the issue and re-valuation of the prices.

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The then telecom secretary Dinesh Shankar Mathur disclosed this in his witness testimony given to the CBI that is probing the 2G scam. Raja, according to Mathur’s statement, allegedly ordered there was no need for revision of the entry fee at 2001 rates despite the fact that Madhavan’s recommendation were backed in writing by the ministry of finance’s Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Mathur and DoT’s then finance department officials.

Instead, questioning the competence and integrity of the sceptics, Raja allegedly wrote, “The concerned officers have neither up-to-date knowledge of UASL (Unified Access Services Licence) guidelines nor have bothered to carefully go through the file".

He further commented, “It was also mentioned that secretary, Telecom Department has already written a letter to secretary, DEA on the issue.”

In December 2007, Madhavan went on leave and later sought voluntary retirement from Indian Revenue Service. According to the CBI, the DoT suffered a loss of around Rs30, 000 crore due to its grant of licences and spectrum at 2001 rates.