The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has informed the Supreme Court that the chief executives and promoters of 10 companies are among the 63 people under investigation in the 2G spectrum issue, according to news reports. Meanwhile, the government has said it was debating the merits of cancelling licenses of companies that had not rolled out services on schedule.
The Centre, a party to the case, told the court that the government had written to the Chief Justice of the Delhi high court seeking the constitution of a special court and nomination of judges to try 2G case. The CBI did not name the 10 companies being investigated, but companies whose executives have been called by CBI so far include Etisalat, Unitech Wireless, Reliance Communications , Tata Teleservices Limited, Tata Realty, Loop, Datacom (Videocon), S Tel, Sistema Shyam and Essar.
Former telecoms minister A. Raja, his personal secretary R.K. Chandolia, former telecom secretary Siddharth Behuria and managing director of DB Realty Shahid Balwa have so far been arrested over their alleged involvement in the 2G issue.
The court will hear the case again on March 15, and has asked CBI and the Enforcement Directorate to update their progress reports by March 10, 2011.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) told the court in its affidavit that it was examining the possibility of cancelling the mobile permits of all companies that had failed to rollout services in time. At the same time, the department also added that ‘wholesome cancellation of the licenses granted to 122 companies’ in 2008 may not be in public interest.
