Two-G (2G) Spectrum Scam Tapes and follow-up

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ramana
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Re: Two-G (2G) Spectrum Scam Tapes and follow-up

Post by ramana »

Vinod Rai should get Bharat Ratna for his efforts.
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Re: Two-G (2G) Spectrum Scam Tapes and follow-up

Post by Nitesh »

Guru log, what will be the effect on pricing of commodities like steel, power once this auction is over. These companies will definitively take this money from us onlee :)
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Re: Two-G (2G) Spectrum Scam Tapes and follow-up

Post by Aditya_V »

Nitesh wrote:Guru log, what will be the effect on pricing of commodities like steel, power once this auction is over. These companies will definitively take this money from us onlee :)
These prices of steel are governed by International Market prices and much of the power today is imported from Indonasia, Indian coal will make it cheaper.
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Re: Two-G (2G) Spectrum Scam Tapes and follow-up

Post by Pratyush »

Follow this auction with the auctioning of the Iron Ore mines. Add to that availability of cheap credit. You may just see a reduction in the prices of domestic Steel.
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Re: Two-G (2G) Spectrum Scam Tapes and follow-up

Post by Nitesh »

Thanks for the replies, so the things were struck at two levels, first at coal India, second at open loot. Now that the companies have paid for the mines, they will extract and try to make money out of it. Overall we will see more economic activity
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Re: Two-G (2G) Spectrum Scam Tapes and follow-up

Post by ramana »

X-post....
Vipul wrote:Why can't we call Manmohan corrupt?

The Indian electorate has a very high tolerance to corruption and maybe that's why it is so difficult to eradicate it. Laloo Prasad Yadav got 15 years in Bihar despite the fodder scam hanging over him like a cloud.

When Jayalalithaa got convicted for disproportionate assets, instead of being disgusted, many took to the streets in strong support of the former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister. When the black money scam exploded in AAP's face on the eve of the New Delhi elections, there wasn't even a dent in their fortunes.

The media also seems quite apologetic in calling former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh corrupt. News of his being named accused and questioned was severely played down while news of Congress President's solidarity walk was severely played up.

It is these subtleties that reveal severe media bias and viewers take a subconscious cue.But first let us see the definition of being corrupt.Just see one of the many dictionary meanings...

Corrupt (adjective): having or showing a willingness to act dishonestly in return for money or for personal gain.

Most people think of corruption being just someone taking money directly to do something and putting it in his account. But as we see, “personal gain” in any form is corruption. Now the post of Prime Minister is the most powerful in the land.

The Government of India spends a huge amount of money on the office of the PM and it has a huge lot of perks. He goes around with a security retinue, gets to travel the world in a private aircraft and generally has a very privileged life.

Manmohan was PM for 10 years and the very act of hanging on to the PM's post comes under “personal gain”. What if a PM was faced with a choice of doing something that would harm the nation and something that would force him to step down? If he chose to continue and also continue to harm the nation, wasn't he choosing “personal gain” over country? Isn't that itself a clear form of corruption?

When the 1.76 lakh crore 2G scam happened, the Prime Minister was directly involved because he signed most of the files and our Constitution talks of collective responsibility. However he got away because the figure itself was hotly disputed and no corruption money was recovered that could be linked to him. That made it to No. 2 of Time magazine's all-time abuses of power but somehow for some strange reason it wasn't Manmohan who “abused power” and neither Sonia.

However that was surpassed by Coalgate which initially talked of a loss of 2 lakh crore much greater than the 2G scam. While A Raja became the fall guy and went to jail as he was the Telecom Minister, what happened in Coalgate? Shouldn't the Coal Minister have been brought down for questioning? Shouldn't the Coal Minister have come under scrutiny? Well such a thing didn't happen because the Coal Minister happened to be the Prime Minister! While one scam after another kept happening right under his tenure here was one which happened right in the Ministry when he was in charge!

There were also things like the ISRO scandal and Manmohan happened to be Space Minister and the alleged Thorium scam and Manmohan happened to be the Atomic Energy Minister. In the history of Independent India never has one man been surrounded by so many scams and still been persistently called clean.

Now here's the thing. The current coal auctions have shown that former CAG Vinod Rai's figure of Rs 2 lakh crore was highly conservative.

One thing is clear. Manmohan through his actions caused the Government of India's exchequer to lose lakhs of crores of Rupees. But again the mainstream media is downplaying the whole issue.

If a thief steals a few hundred Rupees in a bus he is thrashed. If an official misappropriates a few lakhs there will be a local outcry. If a downright fake story says that a Prime Minister is wearing a Rs 10 lakh suit there will be national outrage. But India losing lakhs of crores of Rupees through some signature on a file is beyond the comprehension of most people and hence there is no outrage.

When the duo of Sonia-Manmohan was in power one can understand the mainstream media being petrified but the continued defence of the two is quite baffling.

Meanwhile to continue calling Manmohan clean and honest is quite a travesty indeed.

The sad thing is even we on the forum didnt see the person for what he is. He has ruined every aspect of governance.

Sharam-el-Sheikh, 26/11, Soldier beheadings, AKA disarmament alongside corruption, MGNREGA scams, 2g scam coal block auctions, Economy mess and what else.
Even Delhi Police was under his ministers.
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Re: Two-G (2G) Spectrum Scam Tapes and follow-up

Post by dnivas »

Maybe it is his revenge against India for the sikh revenge killings..Unholy nexus between Khalistan morons, Vatican, ISI ..
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Re: Two-G (2G) Spectrum Scam Tapes and follow-up

Post by ramana »

No I don't think so. He is a patriot and does love India. Only he loves himself more and will take any abuse rom Congress that gave him his self identity.

chetak wrote:Image
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Re: Two-G (2G) Spectrum Scam Tapes and follow-up

Post by Pratyush »

SC has stayed the summons to MMS in the Coal gate case.
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Re: Two-G (2G) Spectrum Scam Tapes and follow-up

Post by svenkat »

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Ex-PM-Manmohan-Singh-told-me-to-go-along-on-2G-Baijal/articleshow/47423096.cms?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=timesofindia
: In a self-published tell-all book, former Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) chairman Pradip Baijal has alleged that the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh warned him of "harm" if he didn't cooperate in the 2G case.

Baijal, who was probed for several years for his role in the 2G scam and disinvestment of properties (he was disinvestment secretary when Laxmi Vilas Palace Hotel was sold to Bharat Hotels in 2002), claims UPA II ruined his reputation to divert corruption charges against its coalition government.

Baijal writes that bureaucrats like him were "damned if you do, damned if you don't". "I had warned many in UPA II that all enquiries against me and others, would lead back to the PM, as he had indeed approved the actions of ministers and ministries in his government. This is precisely what was proved later. The actions of Dayanidhi Maran/(A) Raja/coal minister were approved by him, and he is equally culpable for all the losses computed by the CAG," says Baijal in his book 'The Complete Story of Indian Reforms: 2G, Power and Private Enterprise - A Practitioner's Diary', exclusively accessed by TOI.

In a chapter titled 'How the problems began', Baijal claims that he expressed his misgivings in 2004 to the then PM over Dayanidhi Maran being appointed as telecom minister as it was a clear case of conflict of interest since Maran was a broadcaster and TRAI had been appointed as a broadcasting regulator in 2004. ".......the PM dismissed the concerns with the specious argument that there was no conflict of interest since TRAI was an independent regulator and I&B and telecom were separate ministries," states Baijal, adding that "Singh appointed two committees in his office - one headed by him and the other a subordinate committee, headed by principal secretary to PM. Maran protested against these committees, and directed his officers not to attend them".

Baijal claims Maran told him that he was "Prime Minister, Telecom" and would take all decisions on telecom. "He warned that I would come to severe harm if I did not comply with his instructions. He was proved right, since I did face severe hardships later," says Baijal.

On Maran allegedly instructing Baijal at their first meeting after taking over not to submit the Unified Service Licensing recommendations of the previous NDA government, Baijal writes, "...The PM also told me to cooperate with my minister in the coalition government he headed, since non-cooperation could compromise his government".


In a separate chapter, Baijal refers to the alleged warning from Singh: "They (CBI) had warned me in each case (cases related to 2G scam and disinvestments) that I would be harmed if I didn't cooperate. Incidentally, this was exactly what the eminent economist Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh) had told me would happen if I did not cooperate in their scheme of things in the 2G case."

Baijal claims he didn't listen to Singh and Maran on the report/recommendation (on Unified Licensing). While praising the NDA government for the measures it took to reform the telecom sector in 2003 in the book, he says the Unified License approved by the NDA government increased competition in India, and brought down mobile tariffs. "Had I agreed to their (Manmohan Singh and Maran) suggestions and not given the report, the 2003 special regime would have continued and UPA would have held NDA or TRAI (including me) responsible for the 2G scam. The PM would not have accepted his responsibility, just as he shirked responsibility in Coalgate scam," adds Baijal.

Baijal also talks about a meeting between industrialist Ratan Tata and Maran when he was minister of telecom. "In 2004, after a routine meeting, Ratan Tata told me that he was being threatened by Dayanidhi Maran that unless he accepted the merger of Tata Sky with Sun TV, he would ruin him. Ratan Tata refused to cooperate,"claims Baijal.

Baijal also alleges that UPA government removed important files from TRAI and telecom ministry to hide its wrongdoings when scandal hit the headlines in 2009-2010.
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Re: Two-G (2G) Spectrum Scam Tapes and follow-up

Post by ramana »

Lalit Modi is revealing a lot of data on corruption in his political circle on twitter.

Please post links here.
----------------------------------
Lalit Kumar Modi ‏@LalitKModi 2h2 hours ago
1/2 All @INCIndia members and all who cross my path - there is a lot of truth this story -
http://m.firstpost.com/politics/believe ... 10284.html
Lalit Kumar Modi ‏@LalitKModi 2h2 hours ago
2/2 about corruption. So all so called #friends and #family beware I am not in a position to save anyone. @INCIndia
Lalit Kumar Modi ‏@LalitKModi 4h4 hours ago
1/3 Over 10 Terabyte of data being uploaded onto a website in next few days that will blow the cover of @INCIndia

Lalit Kumar Modi ‏@LalitKModi 4h4 hours ago
2/3 and there shady dealings and that of the #finance #ministry under #omitapaul. #viveknagpal was the key man - http://finmin.nic.in/the_ministry/dept_ ... report.pdf

3/3 check the records of his phone bills, entry records to finance ministry and house of fm and omita paul.

Lalit Kumar Modi ‏@LalitKModi 4h4 hours ago
Yet another one with Master #fixer @ShuklaRajiv with Indias Biggest Fixer #gurunwth
Lalit Kumar Modi ‏@LalitKModi 3h3 hours ago
What say @INCIndia #crooks - all @chors (thieves)
Image

Lalit Kumar Modi ‏@LalitKModi 4h4 hours ago
Blanked the name of sender but here is copy of his mail - keep mailing to me
Image
Image



Lalit Kumar Modi ‏@LalitKModi 5h5 hours ago
2/2 only one @arunjaitley - they should #sack him #immediately - true colors are showing. #indiasmostconflicted
Lalit Kumar Modi ‏@LalitKModi 4h4 hours ago
ANYONE WHO SPOKE OR MET OR USED BAGMAN #viveknagpal PLEASE -u know what you did. Be ready to explain. Blame @INCIndia
1/2 #omitapaul sent #viveknagpal to #london who sat here for a week to persuade me. Many congress people

Lalit Kumar Modi ‏@LalitKModi 4h4 hours ago
2/2 pressured my family not to do this and #viveknagpal himself saw data and begged not to expose. @INCIndia gameon
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Re: Two-G (2G) Spectrum Scam Tapes and follow-up

Post by ramana »

If any one recalls, Omita Paul was the rude mannered, haughty woman officer who mispronounced many of the names when Narendra Modi Cabinet was sworn in about a year ago.

Looks like she is neck deep in corruption.
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Re: Two-G (2G) Spectrum Scam Tapes and follow-up

Post by Kakkaji »

ramana wrote:If any one recalls, Omita Paul was the rude mannered, haughty woman officer who mispronounced many of the names when Narendra Modi Cabinet was sworn in about a year ago.

Looks like she is neck deep in corruption.
IIRC, she is the wife of K K Paul, former Commissioner of Delhi Police and current Governor of Nagaland. Apparently the network runs deep
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Re: Two-G (2G) Spectrum Scam Tapes and follow-up

Post by RoyG »

Lalit Modi has got to be one of the biggest trolls in Indian history. He will push, but just enough that Modi will have to act against his own ministers. This is the scorched earth policy of Congress. They have lost everything but will try to deny the BJP any additional reward and pick off performers. In the meantime C-system will try and work with sec-left parties and industrialists to work up a new political front. NOT 1 major politician will go to prison. He will not press the nuke button. All these releases are similar to wikileaks. Everyone was omg omg for the first few weeks to months, but nothing came of it.

Everyone knows the media is bought off. everyone knows about all these big shot industrialists and politicians. this is all BS.
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Re: Two-G (2G) Spectrum Scam Tapes and follow-up

Post by JwalaMukhi »

Lalit Modi's leakings are entertainment and media driven droppings, nothing will come out of it. Lutyens is still going strong.

Corruption got institutionalized during Indira Nehru's regime with ushering in of Emergency. The body politic and every democratic institution has been gravely mauled, and all the pillars of democracy are rotting from deep inside.

One only hopes that history doesn't repeat itself. Lutyens is still alive and kicking.

Mohandas bhai,a Gujju, installed JawaharLal Nehru instead of Sardar Patel and the rest is history. (Ghor Shani has taken over for decades)

Narender bhai, a Gujju, installs (Nehruvian - Jet LEE and other influential Lutyen insiders) and ...?? (still very far from getting out of Kangress mukht or Lutyens Mukht bharath)
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Re: Two-G (2G) Spectrum Scam Tapes and follow-up

Post by panduranghari »

ramana wrote:No I don't think so. He is a patriot and does love India. Only he loves himself more and will take any abuse rom Congress that gave him his self identity.
There is no evidence of this. His actions should prove he was a patriot. His inaction should not be considered like strategic indifference.
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Re: Two-G (2G) Spectrum Scam Tapes and follow-up

Post by Jarita »

ramana wrote:If any one recalls, Omita Paul was the rude mannered, haughty woman officer who mispronounced many of the names when Narendra Modi Cabinet was sworn in about a year ago.

Looks like she is neck deep in corruption.
Isn't Omita Paul rumored to be very close to the "you know who" of India
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Re: Two-G (2G) Spectrum Scam Tapes and follow-up

Post by RoyG »

In another two weeks, this lamogate thing will die. This guy is a bloody joker. Congress tho is def stepping up its attack. This tells me that the noose is tightening. All BJP has to do is hold the line and focus on pushing through major bills and winning state elections.
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Re: Two-G (2G) Spectrum Scam Tapes and follow-up

Post by disha »

Kakkaji wrote:
ramana wrote:If any one recalls, Omita Paul was the rude mannered, haughty woman officer who mispronounced many of the names when Narendra Modi Cabinet was sworn in about a year ago.

Looks like she is neck deep in corruption.
IIRC, she is the wife of K K Paul, former Commissioner of Delhi Police and current Governor of Nagaland. Apparently the network runs deep
Here is the CV of Omita Paul. FWIW. http://www.cic.gov.in/CIC-Cv/cv-ic-op.pdf
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Re: Two-G (2G) Spectrum Scam Tapes and follow-up

Post by ramana »

X-post.
{quote="AjayKK"}Meet Jayanti Dharam Teja, the Lalit Modi of the 60's
http://www.thenewsminute.com/article/me ... t-modi-60s
The recent Sushma Swaraj imbroglio conjures up a sense of deja vu for those who lived through the early and mid 60's . I vividly recall a gentleman by the name of Dr Jayanti Dharam Teja who was never far from the newspaper headlines and a regular feature among the Delhi glitterati of the time.

He had a brilliant academic career in nuclear physics and soon relocated to India. He used to assert that the only motivation behind his relocation was his intense desire to serve his homeland.

Very soon he became a regular at the Teen Murti Marg residence of the Prime Minister and any social gathering in the capital was unthinkable without him and his wife. In 1961 he set up a shipping company by the name of Jayanti Shipping Corporation. He developed a need to obtain a fiscal loan to realize his dream and applied to the government.

Teja had managed to acquire the status of a close confidante of Nehru .The Prime Minister overruled the objections by the civil servants and declared that Teja should be partly supported through the public exchequer. While the exact details are difficult to come by, it is believed that the government went on to release about 20 crores-which may appear chickenfeed today but was an astronomical sum 54 years ago.

Teja started placing orders for Japanese ships by paying the first installments on all the purchases. Once he had the initial consignments, he used them as collaterals to acquire more ships. He was soon able to build up an impressive fleet.The country went hysterical in acknowledging and applauding his 'spectacular' achievements.

But that was another side to this man which started making many people nervous. He was very fond of European jaunts and people began to legitimately wonder how he was able to acquire expensive properties in nearly all parts of the world.

The bubble soon burst. He fell foul of the tax authorities. By this time Nehru had died and while Teja made every effort to get into good books of his successor, he could not succeed in getting his way into the inner sanctorum. He became very close to Indira reportedly presenting her with a mink coat. He fled the country, which some believe was made possible only because he had been accorded unofficial help from senior civil servants. Stories had been circulating about the lavish hospitality Teja and his glamorous wife used to extend to journalists and civil servants. Inder Malhotra, the former TOI editor has admitted that Teja had once sent him a luxury class return air ticket to visit his villa in Nice, France and enjoy the delicious prawn the region was famous for. He claimed that he had returned the tickets.

The next we heard of this colourful character was when he was appointed a consultant to the Costa Rica government to help the country with its shipping needs. Interpol nabbed him in London and he was deported back to India where despite his wealth and contacts, he had to spend some time in Tihar Jail.

He emerged from his incarceration without any dimunition of his chutzpah and arrogance. He moved back to Geneva where in terms of fiscal wealth, he died a rich man.

Teja's profile thus far is remarkably similar to that of the present enfant terrible Lalit Modi, another absconder from the judicial process in India against whom there is a lookout notice and who enjoys political support. The most notable difference however is that while Teja prospered mostly on the goodwill of the Congress Party (the real Congress Party that existed before 1969), Modi seems to have made merry on the kinship with the BJP top brass.

One was Dharam Teja and one is Lalit Modi

http://www.afternoonvoice.com/one-was-d ... -modi.html
In the past, many scamsters hit the headlines in India such as Ramalingam Raju, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Rajiv Gandhi (bofors) & Lalit Modi etc, list are long. India is unfortunate to have history of various scams. However, Sushma Swaraj’s embarrassment invokes some memories of 60s. Dr Jayanti Dharam Teja, was a famous name that remained in headlines almost every day in those days. He was featured almost in all the all known publications. The lifestyle of Lalit Modi and his connections are very much similar to Dharam Teja of 60s.

Veteran journalists narrate Teja as a magical man, well-dressed and well built six feet and four inches, charismatic personality with good communication skill – ruled the corridors of powers in 60s. He was a shipping tycoon, nuclear physicist, amateur versifier, musicologist, financial wizard and one of the country’s most indescribable operators in big money.

Teja comes from a family which was into shipping business in Cocanada which is now known as Kakinada in east Godavari in Andhra Pradesh State. His father Ganganna Pantulu was himself a great shipping consultant in the British Raj. When N T Ramarao (NTR) became CM of AP in the late 80s, he again surfaced and used to be the guest at the Raj Bhavan. NTR even thought of sending him to the Rajya Sabha, when someone alerted him. During his visits to Hyderabad, Dharma Teja used to invite journalists for lavishing parties too. His close family members still live in Hyderabad and are well connected to state politics and politicians. Politicians and bureaucrats were as anxious to befriend with the Tejas as they were to plough men and women of power and influence.

In 1962, Teja set up a shipping company with a paid up capital of Rs. 200 only. A Nehruvian recommendation got that company Rs. 22 crore as loan. Jayanthi Shipping Company of Dharma Teja pocketed all advance payments in his Leichtenstein bank account. Finally, in this scam Dharma Teja was arrested in London in the year 1970. He got six years imprisonment but went absconding for some time. He comes to India after more than five years of exile, when Indian tax authorities had nearly given up and declared him as untraceable. Many failed to understand why Teja, who allegedly owed the Income Tax Department Rs 4.8 crore in income tax and Rs 1 crore in wealth tax arrears at the time and was barred from acquiring a passport without special dispensation, had been able to leave the country and also retuned when he felt like coming back.

Teja had been sentenced on October 19, 1972 to three years in jail for falsification and forgery of the accounts of Jayanti Shipping Corporation, the grand merchant marine organisation headed by him. He also breached the Passport Act, which debars anyone convicted for more than two years from acquiring a passport for five years from the date of conviction. When the storm broke in Parliament, the disorder was worse mystified with the regional passport officer for Delhi, R.C. Pandey and the income tax authorities contradicting each other: Pandey said that Teja had been “authorised by the Government to get his passport” while the taxmen disputed the claim. In fact, Teja could have obtained his passport only if the office of the prime minister or the home minister, cleared his application on optional grounds. However, the decision needed to be announced in the official gazette. This was never done. Then Prime Minister Morarji Desai didn’t exactly explain anything on the position but made statement in 1978 Parliament stating “Teja is free to come and go whenever he chooses. The country has got more from him than what he owes.”

Teja was equally favoured by Nehru and Congress as he was favoured by Janata Party. Anyway, his connections with Nehru back fired him. After Nehru’s death in 1964, Lohia began to gun for him and Lal Bahadur Shastri supported the criticism of Teja in and out of the Parliament. Indira Gandhi came to power in 1966, and Lohia charged in the Parliament that she had accepted a high-priced mink coat as a gift from Teja. The charge was ardently denied by Mrs. Gandhi, but Teja was fated as a victim of his friendship with the Nehru.

Here same situation is with Lalit Modi. People are digging his connections in and out of political arena. He is favoured by many in the corridors of power and the same connections have back fired him. Lalit is intelligent, aggressive, over ambitious, admired and hated in equal measure. He changed the landscape of cricket and introduced money in Cricket. The IPL tournament, first held in 2008, consolidated India’s position as cricket’s economic powerhouse, and consequently, its premier agenda-setter. Modi’s rise to the top rung of Indian cricket was as fast as it was eye-catching. He began his career as an adversary of the Indian cricket board in the early 90s when he was trying to build a business out of distributing sports pay channels. He knew even then that live sports was one of the few things the Indian television consumer would pay for but soon realised the best way to beat the system was to join it. He gone fast over riding his success and the fallout has been equally messy and prolonged with Modi taking on his former bosses at various legal and institutional levels, ensuring he remains in the headlines.
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Re: Two-G (2G) Spectrum Scam Tapes and follow-up

Post by ramana »

Watching the watchers......
chetak wrote:Our esteemed judiciary is at it, yet again.

In the meanwhile, the NJAC will continue to be be stalled by the same worthies of the very same illustrious tribe.

renowned aapi, hizzonner santosh hegde steps into the breach once again for the country, if not for the king.

as usual, the hapless BJP has been dragged into it.


Corruption watchdog Karnataka Lokayukta faces serious graft charges, refuses to quit


Bengaluru: It is a classic case of 'fence eating the crops'. Corruption watchdog Lokayukta is facing the worst ever crisis in Karnataka, with the chief of the institution, Justice Y Bhaskara Rao, himself facing corruption charges. His son Ashwin Rao, another relative Krishna Rao and one more person are accused of blackmailing and extorting money from government officials suspected to be corrupt and nearing their retirement. According to some reports, so far they have collected Rs 180 crore in 109 cases. A senior employee of Lokayukta, Syed Riaz, is also accused of helping them.

The scam came out in the public domain after an engineer complained to Lokayukta SP Sonia Narang that some people demanded money from him at the Lokayukta head office. An efficient and honest IPS officer, Sonia Narang, was stunned by this complaint and started an investigation into the complaint. It led her directly to the office and residence of Lokayukta Bhaskara Rao.

The Karnataka Lokayukta is facing its worst ever crisis with the chief of the institution, Justice Y
According to some people with inside knowledge of the Lokayukta office, Ashwin Rao had two people working for him. They would collect details of senior 'corrupt' government officials nearing the retirement age. They would call him or her to Lokayukta office, threaten them with raids, demand bribe up to Rs 2 crore and finalise the deal at Lokayukta's official residence in the elite Sadashivanagar area of Bengaluru.

After this shocking incident jolted the state, at least 23 people have complained to the Lokayukta that they were approached by his close people for money. These developments forced Bhaskara Rao to address the media giving clean chit to his son Ashwin Rao. He said, "My son Ashwin Rao has nothing to do with this".

In a clever move, Lokayukta handed over the investigation to City Crime Branch (CCB) whose chief's father-in-law is being investigated by the same Lokayukta in a corruption case. After it led to a furore, the CCB chief asked the Lokayukta to transfer the case to someone else.

Later, Bhaskara Rao wrote a letter to Karnataka Government, asking it to order an impartial probe by an independent agency. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah expressed helplessness saying that state government could not order a CBI probe into the alleged scam as the rules don't permit.

Some advocates and civil society leaders have already demanded that Bhaskara Rao should resign immediately, but he has refused to do so. Some are demanding that he should be impeached.

In the meantime, Bhaskara Rao has allegedly given verbal instructions to Sonia Narang not to investigate the allegations against his son, raising serious doubts over his intentions. The retired Lokayukta of Karnataka, Justice N Santosh Hegde, has expressed shock over the incident. He said, "If I were in Bhaskara Rao's place, I would have left my house immediately to save my face".

Bhaskara Rao, a native of neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, is not new to controversies. When he was the chief justice of Karnataka High Court, he had faced some charges. When he was appointed by the then BJP government as Lokayukta, some advocates had questioned it. Some claim that a powerful BJP leader from Andhra Pradesh is behind his appointment as the Lokayukta of Karnataka.

In the last two days, the pressure is mounting on Bhaskara Rao to quit on his own to save his face and allow free and fair investigation, but he is refusing to step down.

Some people are now demanding that the Lokayukta institution should be scrapped as it has no credibility and moral rights to exist as corruption watchdog.
svenkat
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Re: Two-G (2G) Spectrum Scam Tapes and follow-up

Post by svenkat »

With 764, Not 323 High Speed Lines, the Maran Loot is Huge, Stupid. And More
It is now more than 10 years since the installation of the fraudulent telephone exchange by the Marans — former Union Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran and Sun Network owner Kalanithi Maran — at the cost of BSNL took place. And four years since it was exposed by this paper.

The New Indian Express’s exposes in 2011 on illegal telephone exchange smuggled away from BSNL by the Marans and installed in their posh Boat Club residence in Chennai had been wrong on two counts. One, the number of stealthy lines installed was not just 323 high speed telephone lines as originally reported then. The number of lines has now been found to be more than double — 764 high speed lines! Two, the period for which the lines were operated was reported as six months in the investigation in 2011. Now, it has been found that the illegal exchange operated for 36 months from July 2004 to June 2007. On both counts, the 2011 investigation, which was based on the facts in possession at that time, had understated the gravity of the fraud. The original investigation had actually under-reported the size of the fraud. Even its under-reported size was gigantic enough. Now it is more gigantic than was reported in 2011.
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Yet, someone in the system is attempting to minimise the fraud by planting news that the loss is just Rs 1.8 crore. The scaling down of the financial size of the fraud is based on Maran’s claim that the lines were used for “official purposes.” The lines were intentionally smuggled away from BSNL for use for commercial purposes by Sun TV, for which proof exists in the form of underground cable laid secretly to connect the 764 lines to Sun TV office from Maran’s home.
The loss, if it is calculated on commercial rate, is huge - hundreds of crores. If it were used for official purposes, where was the crime first? Maran would walk away free if it were used only for official purposes. Why create a telephone exchange of 764 high speed telephone lines in the official office name of the Chief General Manager (CGM) of Chennai Telephones in Maran’s house instead of at BSNL office, for official purposes? First, why a secret and off the record telephone system for official purposes? The truth is that Marans had smuggled away 764 lines fraudulently designating them as service lines for the official use of the CGM of BSNL, when the lines were installed at the personal home of Dayanidhi Maran at Boat Club area in Chennai. As service lines “intended for official use”, the cost of installing the 764 lines is Rs 1.8 crore. This is what has been planted as the loss caused by the fraud. Only fools can be persuaded to believe that the 764 lines were intended and used for “official purposes”.

The truth is that Marans had smuggled away 764 lines fraudulently designating them as service lines for the official use of the CGM of BSNL, when the lines were installed at the personal home of Dayanidhi Maran at Boat Club area in Chennai. As service lines “intended for official use”, the cost of installing the 764 lines is Rs 1.8 crore. This is what has been planted as the loss caused by the fraud. Only fools can be persuaded to believe that the 764 lines were intended and used for “official purposes”.

It is the fraudulent claim of Marans. There is clear physical proof that the 764 high speed lines were intended and used for commercial purposes. The physical proof of it exists in the form of underground cable specially laid from Maran’s Boat Club home to Raja Annamalaipuram junction, from where the general underground cables had connected the 764 lines to the Sun TV office on Anna Salai. Only fools can claim and only the stupid can accept that the 764 lines were installed for official use and so only the installation cost of Rs 1.8 crore is the loss. It is crime - conspiracy, cheating, fraud, bribery, and breach of trust to inflict losses of hundreds of crores on the public for Sun TV to benefit to that extent. Undeniably, the 764 high speed lines had been used only and fraudulently for commercial purposes. Otherwise where is the need for a criminal investigation?

If the BSNL had given the 764 high speed lines for commercial use by Sun TV, what would be the loss? The minimum annual rent payable by Sun TV for each high speed line is Rs 10 lakh. This allows for a maximum of free calls beyond which each call will be charged. The rent of Rs 10 lakh per line alone amounts to Rs 76.4 crore each year. For three years from July 2004 to June 2007, it would multiply to Rs 229.2 crore. On top of it is the user charges, which cannot be calculated because the 764 high speed lines were kept outside the telephone billing system. The fraud prevents the calculation of the user charge. Despite that, a calculation had been made that the use per month in one set of 30 lines was 45 units per month.
On this basis, the loss could be several hundreds of crores of rupees during the three-year period. Since it was a separate telephone exchange, the Marans could have provided free telephone service to as many persons as they wanted. They were in effect the service providers - unlicensed and illegal. The New Indian Express investigation has also found that most officials of Sun TV were connected to the smuggled and fraudulent free telephone system of Marans.

Also, these illegal and smuggled telephone lines are not just a legal fraud inflicting a huge loss on the exchequer. They also point to clear breach of national security. Even a single unmonitored telephone line is a matter for investigation for national security breach. What about 764 high speed telephone system - a completely unmonitored telephone exchange - smuggled away by fraud and installed in a private home in the name of an official to conceal its use?

And who was the CGM of Chennai Telephones then? One M P Velusamy, whose wife was the cousin of Subbulakshmi Jagadeesan, a former DMK minister, who was arrested under TADA for harbouring LTTE terrorists. Dayanidhi Maran overlooked the seniority of one official of BSNL and chose Velusamy as the CGM. Besides the financial fraud and security risk, the choice of Velusamy overlooking a senior as CGM
and installing the fraudulent exchange to prevent monitoring seems mysterious. Does this not need investigation into whether there was use of the telephone system for any anti-national purposes? Coincidentally, it was during 2004 to 2007 the war against LTTE had reached a peak. Does the issue of 764 high speed telephone lines kept in the name of CGM Chennai Telephones who was related to a TADA detainee for harbouring LTTE terrorists and used by Sun TV, an LTTE-compassionate DMK mouthpiece, not need a security probe?
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Re: Two-G (2G) Spectrum Scam Tapes and follow-up

Post by rajeshkathiriya »

The Enforcement Directorate has unearthed the biggest Hawala racket in the country in connection with the 2G scam.

According to sources, the agency found that the bribe money in the case had travelled through one of country's biggest hawala racket. Sources further said that the role of a private bank was also under scanner. Chennai-based JP Group helped former Union telecom minister A Raja, an accused in the 2G case, launder bribe money in the 2G scam, said sources. The money reportedly travelled to a Dubai-based firm named Mycon General Trading Company. The money further travelled to Hong Kong and several other tax havens. According to the sources, the probe was based on an input by the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) in 2012-13.

The racket came to light when the Ahmedabad unit of the ED found that Surat-based diamond companies were running one of the biggest hawala frauds. The ED has, as of now, found evidence of Rs 10,000 crore being routed out of India. Some arrests have also been made by the agency in connection with the case. While Afroz Fatta, Madan Lal Jain, Manish Shah and Rakesh Kothari have been arrested, warrants have also been issued against Mansook Lal Sanghvi and Dilraj Jain, who are absconding. The agency is now on a lookout for the alleged kingpin, Prithviraj Kothari, who is the owner of Riddhi Siddhi Bullion.

Read more at: http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/busine ... ef_article
svenkat
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Re: Two-G (2G) Spectrum Scam Tapes and follow-up

Post by svenkat »

http://www.newindianexpress.com/columns/Maran-Fraud-Political-Vendetta-Just-Misuse/2015/08/14/article2973303.ece
Maran, who was Telecom Minister from 2004 to 2007, smuggled out a telephone exchange with 341 high speed telephone lines from BSNL to his Chennai home in Gopalapuram. This was kept out of the system and held as secret. The rent for each of these lines for a normal client of BSNL is `10 lakh per year, which alone would work out to `136 crore for four years from 2004-05 to 2007-08 [the lines ran till June 2007]. Maran added another 323 high speed lines in his newly built mansion in the posh Boat Club area in January 2007 and they functioned till June 2007.

For the years 2006-07 and 2007-08 the rent for the 323 lines would be an additional `65 cr. In sum, rent alone tops over `200 crore for 764 lines. The `1.2 crore Maran generously agreed to pay and which seemed to have impressed the court is just the cash-cost incurred by BSNL for laying cables to Maran’s home. Will the CBI tell the court that the loss is minimum `200 crore, not counting the immeasurable user charges. Will the CBI also tell the court that a bribe of `265 — yes just `265 in 1974 — entailed imprisonment of one-and-a-half years and fine of `50,000 in 2014 when the accused was 76 years old and the case 30 years old. [See Criminal Appeal No 404 of 2014 decided by the Supreme Court in February 2014] It is judgments like this that will deter one from corruption.
Not accepting generous offers to pay the bribes back. It is not known whether the Attorney General, who argued the case, told the court with what intent and purpose the two 764-line capacity high speed fraudulent telephone exchanges were installed. Was the court informed that Marans had surreptitiously connected the illicit high speed lines from their homes to the Sun TV network miles away and to homes of its staff all around Chennai through optic fibre cables for its business?

The AG should ask why the telephone exchanges were installed in the official name of the Chief General Manager, Chennai Telephones in Maran’s homes. It does not need a seer to say that Marans did it only lend the colour of genuine official use to mask the fraudulent misuse. Should the AG not ask whether it was to conceal the real, fraudulent intent? If he has not, the AG should ask the court when the case comes up on Sept 14: “Is this just misuse of power, my lord? Or is it a deeper and highly meditated conspiracy and fraud?” He ought to tell the court that the actual user fee of the 764 lines is not measurable because they were intentionally kept out of the monitoring system by deceptively designating the use as official.

The CBI letter to the Ministry of Telecom [Sept 2007] says that in just one line and in just one month over 48 lakh units of calls have emanated, showing massive multi-media use. This was when the UPA I government was in power.

On this basis, the charge for 764 lines for over 40 months could be several hundred crores. Should the AG not tell the court the very fact that 764 lines have been kept out of the system betrays the conspiracy to conceal the actual use and amount chargeable? Hope the CBI affidavit will contain all basic facts and the AG will ask the right questions.


On the shocking “vendetta” word, the CBI needs to tell court that the prosecution against Maran started by the CBI was stifled by the previous government. The facts are: Maran was telecom minister from June 2004 to June 2007 and got the 764 high speed lines surreptitiously installed - 341 lines in his old home in June 2004 and 323 lines in his new home in January 2007; he resigned as telecom minister when the Maran brothers quarreled with their grand uncle Dr Kalaignar Karunanidhi in June 2007; the CBI made initial inquiries and in September 2007 asked the telecom ministry for permission to investigate; after Marans bought peace with the grand uncle in 2008 the matter was put in cold storage till 2011; in June 2011 the media - the New Indian Express - exposed the fraud; till the Supreme Court was moved in 2013 the previous government did not even register an FIR though the CBI had requested for it in 2007; only under court pressure the CBI registered the FIR; the CBI began probing the matter only after the new CBI director took office; other accused were arrested but the lower courts in Chennai where Marans exert huge power did not allow custodial interrogation; the CBI wants custodial interrogation of Maran because he alone would know how the 764 high speed lines that stood installed in his homes and connected to Sun TV were made use of in Sun TV premises. Was Maran running his ministry’s office from Sun TV premises, which was then situated in DMK’s headquarters? Or was Sun TV uplinking its programmes free of cost? Or were the thousands of DMK cadre and leaders making use of the free high speed lines? The AG should ask why should Maran lay optic fibre cables from his home to Sun TV/DMK offices and then drive and work from there as minister? Why could he not do it from his home? For that, he will need just one high speed line. If he were greedy, may be two. But why 764 high speed lines? Unless Marans were kleptomaniacs, who steal without intent of personal use or gain, why smuggle away 764 high speed lines for no purpose? The AG should also ask: if the present government investigates the case that was buried by the previous government, is that vendetta?

The AG must also tell the court that the smuggled telephone lines breach national security. How illegal telephones were a security threat was discussed at a meeting on April 26, 2003 chaired by the Telecom Secretary himself and attended by intelligence agencies and cellular operators. This was before Maran became Telecom Minister and smuggled away from BSNL his 764-line exchanges. In its order of May 24, 2010, the Telecom Appellate Tribunal [TDSAT] ruled: “Operation of clandestine/illegal telecommunications facilities has serious implications from national security point of view. This is a matter of serious concern and all possible steps need to be taken by all concerned to curb such activities.”


The AG should ask the court: Is it a simple case of misuse of telephone lines to be closed by Maran’s generous offer of `1.2 crore? The AG must also say that there is a real security angle to the case [see ‘Mr Attorney, You Got Your Facts, Law Right on Marans?’ NIE dated July 13, 2015] The AG should ask the court whether this did not call for a probe from the national security perspective. Unfortunately the AG cannot put these vital questions to the court because he has given an opinion in another case favouring Maran, unless he says that he was not briefed on these aspects. Will he? God alone knows. If he does not, the court will be unaware of this vital aspect of the case.

Freewheeling observations of a judge without the other side filing its affidavit have no value in law. And yet the entire media prints it as if it were an acquittal of Maran. That is why wise judges resist the temptation to make casual observations. The real issue in corruption cases is who is the wrong doer. Higher the official stricter should be the rule.

But the judicial trend seems to be the other way round, like in imprisonment and fine in the `265 corruption case of petty official mentioned above and being considerate to the strong. Even `1.2 crore may not be a big amount for Maran, but for the nation it is. If a minister is the wrong doer, the punishment must be stricter. In other cases, it is just offence. Not in a minister’s case. As a minister, Maran had taken the oath that he would act in “accordance with the Constitution and the law”. His setting up of a fraudulent telephone exchange in his home as the telecom minister is a fraud on his constitutional oath. Similarly, when assuming office, a judge of the SC solemnly affirms he will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution, perform the duties of his office without fear or favour, affection or ill-will and uphold the Constitution and the laws. A judge’s duty is to punish the offender - doubly punish those who have a constitutional duty.
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Re: Two-G (2G) Spectrum Scam Tapes and follow-up

Post by ramana »

svenkat Proud of you for keeping track of Maran loot.

Keep up good work.
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Re: Two-G (2G) Spectrum Scam Tapes and follow-up

Post by svenkat »

ramana ji,
thank you for your kind words.

All credit should go to Shri Gurumurthi for his relentless crusade in this case against the corrupt marans.
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Re: Two-G (2G) Spectrum Scam Tapes and follow-up

Post by svenkat »

http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil_nadu/P-Chidambaram-Vasan-Eye-Care-and-Rs-223-Crore-Black-Money/2015/09/17/article3032238.ece
See the gravity of the charge. JD Group gave Rs 8.64 cr loan free of interest to Vasan Eye Care group — in cheque. It also gave substantial amount of Rs 40 cr in cash — that is, black money — ‘all on a single day’, ‘as a single transaction’ to one Dr A M Arun, Vasan Eye Care’s original promoter. The cash paid to Arun went to an influential politician in Tamil Nadu who was a Cabinet minister in the UPA regime for 10 years. What is JD Group? Which is Vasan Eye Care? And who is Dr A M Arun? These can wait. Now move to the heart of the story.

The charge of black money payment by the JD Group to the former Cabinet minister via the Vasan Group is no anonymous complaint. It is in the sworn statement of M Srinivasa Rao, Commissioner of Income Tax (Central), then at Chennai, in his petition (June 16, 2015) to the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Delhi, against his transfer that he termed as malafide. The top official’s serious charge in the petition was based on the evidence uncovered in a tax search on the JD Group. Srinivasa Rao swears that his transfer was ‘to punish him for not heeding to the unlawful expectations’ of higher officials who ‘conveyed’ to him ‘repeatedly… to go soft on the tax evaders and money launderers’. [Rao’s petition para 1] But Rao refused to budge and initiated criminal prosecution against JD Group in which, he asserted, the former minister was involved. [para 5.L]

Rao’s petition also mentions [para 4.6] that the JD Group had made black money payments of Rs 100 cr to Vasan Group. He avers that notings on the loose papers seized by tax officials label the cash payments of JD Group as protection money to run its illegal chit funds business. Investigation beyond Rao’s petition to the CAT now shows that the amount paid by JD Group in cash to Vasan Group [Vasan] was not just Rs 40 cr or Rs 100 cr but more: Rs 223 cr all in cash — unaccounted money. Seized papers showing the black account payments of Rs 223 cr are lying with the Income Tax department.

Finding that Rao had made out a prima facie case, the CAT first stayed Rao’s transfer on June 19, 2015. But the Central Board of Direct Taxes [CBDT] swung into action and got the stay vacated. It defended Rao’s transfer on technical grounds contending that he was only a commissioner who is subject to transfer anytime and not a chief commissioner who is not. Shockingly, the CBDT brought in an Additional Solicitor General of India (ASG) to fight Rao who was chasing the corrupt. But the very same CBDT refuses to mandate a high law officer to fight tax evasion of Rs 900 cr by NDTV in the Income Tax Tribunal, thus clearly signalling to all concerned what the CBDT is more concerned about — namely not chasing tax evaders but punishing those who chase them. This is just the side show. Now back to the main narrative.

Who got it?

Who was the influential Tamil Nadu politician in the UPA Cabinet who received the JD Group cash payments? Rao does not beat about the bush. He straightaway names the former minister in his petition. Rao says he is Palaniappan Chidambaram (PC) — the media celebrity finance minister in the UPA regime, who had headed the Income Tax department for almost two-thirds of UPA’s 10-year term and appointed most of those who head it now. No surprise that his loyalists punished Rao for his audacity to act against their former boss. PC and his son Karti Chidambaram (KC) are crucial players from behind Vasan with benamis and dummy companies, the usual actors in corrupt structures, fronting for both. Now, come to the other actors in the theatre of the corrupt — the JD Group, Vasan and Dr A M Arun. The unknown JD Group bears the acronym of its even more unknown owner J Dinakaran. It seems to dabble in black money almost exclusively, running unregistered, illicit chits. The JD Group was raided by Income Tax officials in December 2014 — six months after the new government took over. That was how the tax fraud and bribery came to light, only to be suppressed later, almost, though some honourable officials like Rao managed to keep it alive. Rao says in his petition (para 5.V) that he was transferred because ‘any impartial inquiry into JD Group would lead to the former finance minister’ (PC), which the loyalists of PC wanted to avoid at any cost.

Of all actors in the fraud scripted by the fraudsters, Vasan seems to be the smoking gun. Rao’s testimony points to who the true owner of Vasan is. Rao asserts that Chidambarams acquired Vasan through front companies in Mauritius and Singapore (para 5.S). Vasan’s is an intriguing story by itself and needs to be told separately and elaborately. Its convoluted ownership structure was designed to hide who its true owner is. Here is a brief intro on Vasan. It was first incorporated as Vasan Health Care Private Limited in June 2007 with Dr A M Arun and his wife Meera Arun (both from Tiruchy) as first shareholders and with its registered office at Tiruchy. According to the company’s filings under the company law, on October 28, 2008, Arun and his wife Meera were issued 27 lakh shares of Rs 100 per share on a premium of Rs 100-plus for each share and three lakh shares were issued to one V Dwarakanathan on similar premium.

But within 48 hours of acquiring the shares, on Oct 30, Dwarakanathan transferred half his holdings (1.5 lakh shares equal to 5% of Vasan’s equity capital) to Advantage Strategic Consulting Private Limited, which was two-thirds owned by Ausbridge Holdings and Investments Private Ltd, which KC owned almost fully. PC was very much the finance minister then. KC’s company got the 1.5 lakh Vasan shares without premium, when Dwarakanathan, who subscribed for Vasan’s shares, himself had paid premium. Why should Dwarakanathan acquire the 1.50 lakh shares at a premium and sell it to KC’s company at Rs 100 per share and incur a loss of Rs 1.55 cr in 48 hours? It is only one of the many questions the intriguing Vasan story will pose.

Dramatic change

See how the fortunes of Vasan changed unbelievably. The first eye care unit of Vasan was set up by Arun in 2002 in Tiruchy. It saw no significant growth till 2009-10. Its turnover till 2008-09 was just Rs 13 cr. But soon after the advent of KC in Vasan, things changed dramatically. Within 90 days of KC’s shadow falling on it, Vasan got an investment of Rs 50 cr from a Mauritius-based investor. And within another 12 months it got another Rs 50 cr from the same investor. Soon, Vasan’s registered office shifted to Chennai. In the UPA years from 2009 to 2014, Vasan raised equity and preference capital of Rs 230 cr and debt of Rs 460 cr. Vasan’s turnover grew phenomenally from 2010. Its top line rose from Rs 16 cr in 2009-10 to — believe it — Rs 311 cr in 2010-11! To Rs 462 cr in 2011-12! And to Rs 604 cr in 2012-13! How did the turnover jump 20 times in just one year and some 38 times in three years itself will make the story of Vasan gripping when fully told. Vasan, which had 25 eye clinics in April 2008, boasted of a 175-plus clinic network by 2012-13 with 800-plus ophthalmologists and 8,000-plus eye care members. UPA’s second innings and Vasan’s rise seem to correlate. From nothing when the UPA won a second time in 2009, Vasan’s value topped a billion dollars in 2014 when UPA’s rule ended. India Ratings and Research (part of the globally known Fitch Group) had put a Rs 5,500 cr value on Vasan in its Outlook Report for health sector for 2014. Vasan itself was reportedly looking for investments at a value of Rs 7,000 cr in May 2014.

Political clout

The extraordinary political clout that drove Vasan’s growth is not a well-kept secret. In fact Vasan openly brandished it. It could get even Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to open its 100th eye clinic at Karaikudi, falling in PC’s constituency in December 2011. The media carried the photo-news of the event with bigwigs — Dr K Rosaiah, Governor of Tamil Nadu, Prime Minister Singh, and PC, then Union Home Minister, seated on the dais at the function, making them virtually its political brand ambassadors. Imagine the Prime Minister and Home Minister dropping all national work and flying down to cut ribbons for an eye clinic in far off Karaikudi! Of course, opening of Apollo’s outreach hospital was also included in the function so that it did not appear that the bigwigs came only for Vasan.

Government departments concerned with health, the insurance sector, State government departments and top public sector companies queued up to get listed as “associates” of Vasan. The galaxy of government departments, institutions and companies proudly listed as associates in Vasan’s website (http://www.vasaneye.in) included the RBI, SBI, BSNL, Doordarshan, All India Radio, MMTC, Air India, Airports Authority of India, Indian Bank, IDBI, BHEL, ICF, FCI, all nationalised insurance companies — in all 34 of them.

But things seem to have turned for the worse for Vasan after the UPA lost the 2014 elections. Vasan’s balance sheet for March 2014 due to be out in September last year has not been filed yet. How could a company with huge foreign investment of Rs 192 cr and debt of Rs 460 cr, which it owes to various banks, delay filing its balance sheet for a whole year? This signals that something is seriously wrong with or in Vasan. Its meteoric rise coincided with the UPA rule from 2009 to 2014. Does UPA’s exit from power mean the other way round? The answer will have to wait till the full Vasan story is told.

Attempt to suppress

The Vasan-Chidambarams nexus explains why JD Group should pay such huge monies to Vasan. Can anyone deny the need for a full-scale anti-bribery investigation into Vasan-JD Group dealings? That would first call for a comprehensive tax probe into Vasan. But that was what was snuffed out before it could start. By transferring Rao out of harm’s way, the case was almost buried by PC loyalists in the tax department who continue even today undisturbed by the present regime. They stealthily allowed the JD Group to settle its case by agreeing for a paltry sum of tax. By transferring Rao they ensured that no honest probe would take place. Here is the insider account of how the matter was almost hushed up. Naga Prasad, Director of Income Tax (Investigation), to whom the seized records of JD Group, Chennai, were handed over by investigating officials in the presence of the Joint Director of Income Tax (Investigation), kept the records under lock and key — without acting on them.

Sanjay Srivastava, an income tax commissioner, who unearthed the huge NDTV tax fraud and because of which he was targeted by his own finance minister [PC], met Naga Prasad in April 2015, in the latter’s office at Chennai and asked him about the JD Group matter. Prasad immediately called the Joint Director Investigation in charge of JD Group cases. Srivastava asked Prasad why Vasan and Dr Arun too were not raided immediately consequent to the action on JD Group as per standard procedure when there was enough documentary proof of huge black account payment by JD Group to Vasan. Prasad remained silent. Later the Joint Director told Srivastava that he went by the senior’s instructions — meaning not to touch Vasan. Srivastava also asked Prasad why other domain agencies — RBI, SEBI, CBI, ED, State government and State police — concerned in JD Group’s illegalities were not informed. Prasad again remained silent. Later, the Joint Director informed Srivastava that he had passed on the intelligence to the concerned agencies. In this entire episode, one Guru Prasad @ Guruswamy Naidu, said to be a tax tout and close to Naga Prasad, also figured. Thanks to the attempts to bury it, the case went to deep sleep. But, with at least some in the government waking up, though late, action seems likely now. As the case has begun moving, Naga Prasad, a main player in letting the case getting sedated, is said to have been relieved on voluntary retirement, at breakneck speed, in days when it normally takes six months, even a year, and has got out of service. Relieved from office on August 1, 2015, he is believed to be trying to go abroad and even obtain foreign citizenship.
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Re: Two-G (2G) Spectrum Scam Tapes and follow-up

Post by ramana »

Looks like another scam by Chiddu being uncovered here. And he seems ot have long hands in Chennai where an IT commissioner's office gets rifled.
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Re: Two-G (2G) Spectrum Scam Tapes and follow-up

Post by member_28442 »

thanks for keeping us up-to-date svenkat
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Re: Two-G (2G) Spectrum Scam Tapes and follow-up

Post by svenkat »

http://www.newindianexpress.com/columns/s_gurumurthy/New-Proof-Nails-PC-Lies-in-Rs-223-Crore-Black-Money-Trail/2015/10/15/article3080782.ece
The new evidence is the counter affidavit filed by CBDT (Central Board of Direct Taxation) officials on August 18, 2015, to oppose Rao’s application to CAT. Express did not have access to it when it first exposed the scam. It now has the CBDT affidavit in its possession. Far from saying that Rao’s application is untrue, the CBDT affidavit threatens action against Rao for disclosing the facts! In Para 6 of its affidavit, the CBDT says that the information disclosed in Rao’s affidavit is prohibited under sec 138 of the Income Tax law “as it relates to the assessees and is held by the Income Tax Authorities in fiduciary capacity and is confidential in nature”.

Now recall the information disclosed in Rao’s affidavit. Rao had revealed that a tax raid on JD Group in January had brought out black money of hundreds of crores of rupees paid by it to Vasan, which in turn had made it over to the Chidambarams. By saying that what Rao has divulged is prohibited for disclosure, the CBDT in fact confirms what Rao had said as true. The CBDT has reinforced it by saying that it intends to take action against Rao “for disclosing” the “confidential information” held by the department. The CBDT confirms three facts: one, the department does possess the confidential information forbidden for disclosure divulged by Rao; two, it holds it as trustee of the assessees and the disclosure by Rao is in breach of trust; and three, for disclosing the prohibited confidential information, the CBDT intends to take action against Rao.

This new evidence nails Chidambaram’s lies on both black money and his family’s links with Vasan. Vasan and the Chidambarams are stealthily linked by the surreptitious pay-off in black.

Karti-Vasan tie-up old story

That the Chidambarams and Vasan had formal links is too old a story for Chidambaram to hoot “we have nothing to do with the concerned company” and scoot now. The news of Vasan-Karti link was in public domain over three years back. Only the pay-off in black to the Chidambarams via JD Group is current news. The relation between Karti and Vasan, open for a while, was for unknown reasons suddenly tucked under a corporate structure manned by his buddies. The Economic Times (May 11, 2012) first broke the story of Karti’s links with Vasan through two corporates — Advantage Strategic Consulting Private Limited (Advantage) and Ausbridge Investments and Holdings Private Limited (Ausbridge). ET reported that Ausbridge promoted and owned by Karti had almost fully, 95 per cent, acquired two-thirds ownership of Advantage, which in turn, had bought 5 per cent of Vasan’s equity. ET brought out how Karti got Vasan shares stealthily through Advantage at half the price that the others had paid for his shares. The throwaway price at which Karti’s Advantage acquired it implied and exposed the Chidambarams’ link with Vasan. ET also demonstrated how Karti’s 5 per cent holdings in Vasan, which had cost him just Rs 1.5 cr, was worth over Rs 250 cr as valued by the private equity industry when ET was writing the story in 2012. It also reported that when ET contacted, Vasan did not respond and Karti declined to comment. Chidambaram was the finance minister when Karti acquired Vasan shares in 2008 and in 2012 when the story appeared. Yet, he did not contest the report. Now he denies that his family had anything to do with Vasan and pretends as if his family has never heard of Vasan name - for him it is now “the company concerned”. Does Chidambaram not know now he is telling a lie?

Windfall gains

Now see how Karti camouflaged and hid his holdings in Vasan through Advantage and Ausbridge manned by his confidants. Karti, like most politicians, needed front companies, benamis and proxies, to do commerce. Among those fronting for Karti are: CBN Reddy (described as his benami by intelligence reports), Sundar Srinivasan and Mohanan Rajesh regarded as close to him. One Bhaskar Raman is described by intelligence reports as “close to Karti and knows all his secret dealings and investments”. A couple, Ravi Viswanathan and Padma Viswanathan, and Suchitra Rajesh, the spouse of Mohanan Rajesh also figure in this list. They are the ones who double up and substitute for him as directors and shareholders of his front companies — Ausbridge and Advantage.

Here is a more forensic picture of how Karti acquired Vasan holdings for a song. Dwarakanath, the father-in-law of Dr Arun, the perceived promoter of Vasan, acquired 3 lakh shares in Vasan, at Rs 200 per share on 29.10.2008. Within 24 hours, he sold half of it - 1.5 lakh shares - to Advantage, intriguingly at half that price. Advantage did not pay a single rupee even towards the discounted price till March 2010, when it paid Rs 50 lakh. The balance Rs 100 lakh remains due, perhaps even now. Chidambaram was the finance minister then. Two years later, on 26.10.2010, Advantage sold 30,000 shares (out of the 1.5 lakh it had acquired at Rs 100 per share) at Rs 7,500 per share to Sequoia Capital India Growth Investments and made a killing of Rs 22.2 cr. At that sale value, the 1.5 lakh shares of Vasan held by Advantage would be worth Rs 112.5 cr. The break up value of Advantage share at that value was Rs 1,120 per share.

When it was paying Rs 7,500 per Vasan share to Advantage, Sequoia had already subscribed Rs 100 cr into Vasan’s Debentures, which would entitle Sequoia, at any time it wanted, to over a million Vasan shares at Rs 912 per share. Why, when it could ask for a million Vasan share at Rs 912 per share, should Sequoia pay over eight times that amount to buy 30,000 Vasan shares from Advantage? Intriguing, isn’t it? What follows is something equally interesting.

Probe must

Within five months of Advantage making the windfall gain, on 25.3.2011, Ausbridge - almost fully owned by Karti since 2006 - acquired two-thirds of the ownership of Advantage, which had got the windfall gain. At what price? The existing shareholders of Advantage had paid Rs 77.5 per share before Advantage got the windfall gain. By the windfall gain, Advantage’s share value had shot up to Rs 1,220 per share five months before Karti’s Ausbridge acquired it. Yet the Karti-owned Ausbridge got the shares of Advantage at - believe it - Rs 15 per share. Which was less than one-fifth of the price the other shareholders had paid and just a little over one per cent of the true worth of Advantage. See more.

Ausbridge — read Karti — did not even pay Rs 15 per share in full. It paid only Rs 2.5 per share, the balance remaining outstanding. By Ausbridge investing just Rs 5 lakh in Advantage, Karti got to own two-thirds of Advantage whose net worth was over Rs 18 cr.

Income tax law taxes this differential between Rs 18 cr and Rs 5 lakh as gain. Has Ausbridge paid tax on it? If not, did the tax department look into it? Chidambaram was the all-powerful home minister at the Centre then. Immediately after Karti acquired two-thirds stake in Advantage, Rs 8.70 cr out of the windfall gain was siphoned out as investment in a Singapore subsidiary Advantage Strategic Consulting Singapore Pte Limited. (Advantage Singapore).

Another interesting turn here. Within six months of Karti getting two-thirds stake in Advantage, on 5.10.2010, he transferred his entire (95 per cent) holdings in Ausbridge (with its two-thirds holdings in Advantage and its Singapore subsidiary) to his confidant Mohanan Rajesh. The price at which Karti sold his stake in Ausbridge to Rajesh is unknown. Had Karti transferred the Ausbridge shares at full value he would obviously have paid tax on the gain. Had he underpriced it, which is likely, he would have to pay tax on the undercharge. Has he? Did the tax department, which must have the information, demand tax on it? Chidambaram was then also the home minister.

The circumstance of the transfer to Mohanan itself showed that the transferee only Karti’s proxy. Even after Karti suddenly disappeared from Ausbridge, the fortunes of Advantage continued to rise. During the year ended March 2013, Advantage again sold 30,000 shares of Vasan to Sequoia. It is not known at what price. It also received a consultancy fee of Rs 29.5 cr and made a total gain of Rs 39 cr. The director’s report of Advantage says that no employee gets salary of more than Rs 2 lakh per month and yet the company gets a consultancy fee of Rs 29.5 cr! Who then worked to get such huge fee? Does it need a seer to say that Advantage is a proxy to receive and keep illicit monies of someone else? Did the department, led by Chidambaram as finance minister then, probe into whether such intriguing dealings are genuine?


Karti’s hidden and proxy holdings in different companies, under-charged buying and selling, secret gains and his inexplicable appearance and disappearance from companies - all call for a through tax probe at the minimum. Underselling assets to Karti, the only son of a Central minister, would definitely need probe under the anti-bribery law. Even Chidambaram can’t dispute this. Will he will ask for a probe instead of making empty denials?

(The author is a commentator on political, economic and cultural affairs)

svenkat
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Re: Two-G (2G) Spectrum Scam Tapes and follow-up

Post by svenkat »

http://www.firstpost.com/politics/kapil-sibal-used-a-friendly-judge-to-frame-pramod-mahajan-says-arun-jaitley-2470200.html
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today used Facebook to take on former telecom minister Kapil Sibal at "whose behest" the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a charge sheet in a case of additional spectrum of 2002 which a special court today dismissed as "fabricated".
Jaitley's reactions came after CBI Special Judge OP Saini discharged all the accused including former telecom secretary Shymal Ghosh in a case related to fixation of spectrum user charges in 2002 during the NDA regime. The then telecom minister late Pramod Mahajan was named as a deceased accused.
ollowing is the text of Jaitley's post on Facebook:
"A fabricated charge sheet rebuffed by the Court
The CBI Special Judge Shri O. P. Saini discharged all the accused including Shyamal Ghosh, the former Telecom Secretary in a case relating to fixation of Spectrum User Charges. The Court observed that “there is no doubt that the charge sheet has been filed for extraneous reasons….. Since the charge sheet has been found to be full of distorted and fabricated facts, an attempt has been made to mislead the Court, Director, CBI is directed to conduct an inquiry against the erring officers and take actions as per law.”
Indeed the officers are guilty of fabricating charges against an honest Civil Servant and others. There is no doubt that the Chargesheet was filed at the behest of Shri Kapil Sibal, the Telecom Minister in the UPA Government. At the time when the Telecom sector was riddled with scams, Kapil Sibal selected a retired Judge of his choice and asked him to unearth an “NDA Scam” in Telecom. The Judge opined that there could be an arbitrariness in fixing the Spectrum User Charges for allocation of additional spectrum. An unsustainable charge sheet was filed against an outstanding and honest Civil Servant Shyamal Ghosh. The idea to attack the NDA was by including the Late Pramod Mahajan in Column II as a deceased accused.
I had consistently maintained that this charge sheet was full of fabricated facts. I had written an Article on 2nd April, 2013 in ‘The Hindustan Times’ commenting on this charge sheet. The last three paragraphs of the Article deals specifically with this charge sheet. A copy of that Article, which appeared on 2nd April, 2013, is enclosed. The Court has vindicated what we had always maintained. The CBI Officers who acted on the dictates of the political government will now face an enquiry. But what about the Ministers who conspired to create a fabricated charge sheet and a retired Judge who, for the sake of a post-retirement assignment, agreed to lend his Offices for the same?
.......
Now the third minister was appointed to look after the Telecom Department. He wanted to get the sadistic delight out of the fact that the scams were not new to the telecom sector under the UPA government. He, therefore, selected a Judge of his choice to ‘unearth’ an NDA scam.
kmkraoind
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Re: Two-G (2G) Spectrum Scam Tapes and follow-up

Post by kmkraoind »

Now, retired babus to probe serving ones in the govt

Now, NaMo govt can get a big pool of investigative officers, who know working nature of corrupts in and out, and cant be hoodwinked so easily. Its a golden opportunity for honest seniors (who were left to rot in a corner by corrupt govts) to earn tons of "Good Karma."
However, to make sure that enquiries are conducted in a fair manner, the government has decided to engage retired officers with "impeccable integrity" and a "clean service record" to probe serving officers.

Retired government servants, not below the rank of deputy secretary at the Centre and equivalent rank in state government and PSUs, hired as inquiry officers will give their reports on delinquent officers within 90 days.
chetak
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Re: Two-G (2G) Spectrum Scam Tapes and follow-up

Post by chetak »

kmkraoind wrote:Now, retired babus to probe serving ones in the govt

Now, NaMo govt can get a big pool of investigative officers, who know working nature of corrupts in and out, and cant be hoodwinked so easily. Its a golden opportunity for honest seniors (who were left to rot in a corner by corrupt govts) to earn tons of "Good Karma."
However, to make sure that enquiries are conducted in a fair manner, the government has decided to engage retired officers with "impeccable integrity" and a "clean service record" to probe serving officers.

Retired government servants, not below the rank of deputy secretary at the Centre and equivalent rank in state government and PSUs, hired as inquiry officers will give their reports on delinquent officers within 90 days.
in many cases, tribal loyalties will supersede loyalty to the BJP. How can it not when such an incestuous tribe is asked to investigate itself, especially when appointments for over ten years are congi virus suspect and such extended families have already partaken heartily of the sumptuous onam feasts for many a year and whole extended families involved are seriously networked to remain on the gravy train perpetually??

This is another congi lutyens generated idea to get into secret files and sabotage from within and some BJP folks are actively conniving in such a criminal enterprise.
kmkraoind
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Re: Two-G (2G) Spectrum Scam Tapes and follow-up

Post by kmkraoind »

ED probes Fema violations against Karti Chidambaram - ET
An ED spokesperson confirmed to ET that the probe is related to Fema violations and they came upon these links during their probe into the Aircel-Maxis deal. An e-mail questionnaire to Karti Chidambaram remained unan-swered. According to ED sources, Vasan sold nearly 1.5 lakhs shares to Advantage at Rs100 in 2008.

These shares, according to ED sources, were purchased for Rs200 and it is yet to be established why these shares were sold at a 50% discount, said officials familiar with the probe. In 2010, out of the 1.5 lakh shares, Advantage sold 30,000 to Sequoia Capital at Rs7,500 per share.
Simplifying one part of this scam.
- Buy shares at Rs. 100 at hugely discounted prices as malai.
- Sell just a part of those shares at Rs. 7500 for malai.
- In future sell another big chunk even at inflated prices for malai.

What an innovative idea. Even Robert Vadra did same, but in 2-3 repeated cycles of give-n-take with DLF of the same land.
ramana
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Re: Two-G (2G) Spectrum Scam Tapes and follow-up

Post by ramana »

The National Herald scam is coming to a head and leading to Lok Sabha interruptions by Congress.

The Delhi HC demanded the maa-beta duo to show up in court and they think they are above law like grandmother Indira did in 1975.
RoyG
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Re: Two-G (2G) Spectrum Scam Tapes and follow-up

Post by RoyG »

ramana wrote:The National Herald scam is coming to a head and leading to Lok Sabha interruptions by Congress.

The Delhi HC demanded the maa-beta duo to show up in court and they think they are above law like grandmother Indira did in 1975.
In the background, Jaitley is smiling. I get the feeling he may be positioning himself as leader of the opposition. I'll never forget the day that he started up that website indicating no political affiliations. Media never touches him. Opposition never touches him. Slippery creature.
ramana
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Re: Two-G (2G) Spectrum Scam Tapes and follow-up

Post by ramana »

Just plain corruption and very blatant about it!!!!

http://www.ndtv.com/delhi-news/cbi-reco ... picks=true

New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) recovered 31 gold biscuits and 800 grams of silver from the bank locker of Sanjay Pratap Singh, a senior bureaucrat in the Delhi government, who was arrested in a bribery case on Wednesday.

Mr Singh has five bank lockers including a joint one with his wife, the CBI sources said.

The CBI officers also found 300 bottles of liquor brands like Blue Label, Glenmorangie and expensive watches like Rolex, Rado and various other labels.

The CBI sources said that so far, documents related to eight properties in areas including Safdarjung Enclave in Delhi, Sector 56 in Gurgaon, Sector 44 and Sector 50 in Noida and high-end construction in Greater Noida which is worth around Rs. 20 crore, have also been recovered by the agency.

The fixed deposit receipts of over Rs. one crore were also found during search operations conducted on Tuesday.


Earlier during the day, Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said the government had been keeping an eye for long on the arrested bureaucrat, but there was no evidence against him.

"We had heard about SP Singh. But no solid information was coming our way. We were keeping an eye on him," Mr Sisodia said.

The 1984 batch Indian Administrative Service officer is the Principal Secretary of the Department of Welfare of Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes and Minorities in the Delhi government.

The CBI said that Mr Singh had allegedly demanded Rs. 2.2 lakh from the complainant whose firm provided security guards and subordinate staff to the department.

The private assistant of the senior bureaucrat has also been detained.

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