Pradip Baijal told NDTV that the changes he recommended - ending a first-come-first-serve basis - were ignored
When he warned that the ground was being laid for a massive multi-billion dollar telecom scam, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urged him to "cooperate" with policies flagged as problematic, claims Pradip Baijal, who was the head of the country's telecom regulator.
Mr Baijal was the chief of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India or TRAI till 2006. In an interview to NDTV today, he said that the changes he recommended - ending a first-come-first-serve basis - were shot down by Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran, who warned, "I am Prime Minister, Telecom. You do what I am telling you."
The PM then allegedly told Mr Baijal, "Why are you not cooperating with the minister?" Mr Baijal also says "The PM was fully aware of what was happening."
Mr Baijal says the refusal to change the rules spawned, just a short while later, one of the country's largest corruption cases: the "2G scam" which was executed allegedly by government officers led by A Raja (who replaced Mr Maran as Telecom Minister) and private firms who colluded to land out-of-turn mobile network licenses. Second-generation or (2G) airwaves were thrown in for free.
Mr Baijal claims that the CBI, assigned to investigate the 2G scam, was acting on behalf of Dr Singh's government when it ordered him to implicate Arun Shourie, who has served as Telecom Minister in the BJP-led government that lost the 2004 election, and industrialist Ratan Tata, whose telecom is among those investigated.
Mr Baijal also states that in 2004, he told the PM that picking Mr Maran as Telecom Minister could create a possible conflict of interest. Mr Maran's family owns a large broadcasting business, and TRAI had been assigned as a watchdog for broadcasters. He claims the PM dismissed the concerns.