New Delhi:
Shahid Balwa, arrested for paying a 214-crore kickback for a telecom licence, has in his defense named the PM, Kapil Sibal and the NDA.
Mr Balwa made his remarks in a Delhi court today in the context of the charges being framed against him. Mr Balwa is the promoter of Swan Telecom. In 2008, Swan was granted a mobile network licence and accompanying frequency by then Telecom Minister A Raja. The CBI states that Swan then sent a cheque for 214 crores to a TV channel in Chennai owned partly by Kanimozhi, the daughter of DMK chief M Karunanidhi.
Mr Balwa, Mr Raja and Kanimozhi are all in Tihar Jail. The CBI also believes that Swan Telecom functioned as a front for Anil Ambani's Reliance Telecom. Swan was allegedly used to help Reliance circumvent the limits on how many licences a telecom operator is permitted.
Mr Balwa said in court today that since Mr Sibal and the PM have both said that there was "no loss" to the government from the allcoation of licenses in 2008, he is being wrongly accused of corruption and conspiracy.
Experts and the Opposition have questioned why Mr Raja as Telecom Minister chose to ignore suggestions that he auction spectrum, which could have led to higher revenue for the government. In his defense, Mr Raja has argued that he implemented the same policy - First-Come-First-Serve - that was initiated by his predecessors in the BJP-led NDA regime which was voted out in 2004. The government has said that it was not the policy that was the problem; it was Mr Raja's incorrect implementation that allowed companies that he favoured - like Swan - to jump to the head of the queue.
"The NDA government initiated the first-come-first serve policy," Ms Balwa said in court today. "Their Telecom Ministers pursued that policy. Who then should be booked for conspiracy?"