CBI to file chargesheet in spectrum allocation during NDA rule

CBI is likely to file this week its chargesheet in connection with alleged irregularities in telecom spectrum allocation during the tenure of NDA government involving two telecom service providers along with officials of Telecom Department and the then telecom minister Pramod Mahajan.

CBI is likely to file this week its chargesheet in connection with alleged irregularities in telecom spectrum allocation during the tenure of NDA government involving two telecom service providers along with officials of Telecom Department and the then telecom minister Pramod Mahajan.

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The agency was adviced by the Supreme Court to follow the opinion of its chief while finalising its chargesheet.

CBI sources said the agency will book a former senior telecom official besides telecom companies. The agency had registered a case against Shyamal Ghosh, the then Telecom Secretary when the ministry was headed by Pramod Mahajan, J R Gupta, who was the deputy director general (Value Added Services) and two telecom service providers Airtel and Vodafone for alleged irregularities in grant of additional spectrum.

Sources said Gupta, who retired as director, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, has become an approver for the agency. CBI had alleged in its FIR that the department of telecom increased the base spectrum for telecom companies from 4.4 MhZ to 6.2 MhZ during Mahajan's tenure from 2001 to 2003 and also allocated extra spectrum on subscriber-based criteria.

"The then minister for telecom and communication (Pramod Mahajan) has been excluded since he expired," CBI had said but alleged he was a part of criminal conspiracy to allocate the additional spectrum in a "hurried" manner.

Both Bharti Airtel and Vodafone had, however, denied the allegation saying they had always maintained the highest standard of corporate governance and regulatory compliance.