The 2g Spectrum Scandal
The 2G spectrum scandal involved officials in the government of India illegally undercharging mobile telephony companies for frequency allocation licenses, which they would use to create 2G subscriptions for cell phones. The shortfall between the money collected and the money which the law mandated to be collected is 1,76,379 crore (1.763 trillion) rupees (roughly equivalent to 39 billion US dollars). The issuing of licenses occurred in 2008, but the scam came to public notice when the Indian Income Tax Department was investigating political lobbyist Nira Radia.
The government's investigation and the government's reactions to the findings in the investigation were the subject of debate, as were the nature of the Indian media's reactions. The discussion around the reactions to the 2G spectrum scam became known in the media as the Nira Radia tapes controversy.
Much of the credit of bringing this whole scam into public light goes to Dr. Subramanian Swamy who is the chief petitioner for this case in the court of law. [1] * |
Parties accused of involvement
The selling of the licenses brought attention to three groups of entities - politicians who had the authority to sell licenses, corporations who were buying the licenses, and media professionals who mediated between the politicians and the corporations.
Politicians involved * A.RAJA , the Minister of Communications and Information Technology who sold the licenses
Corporations accused * Unitech Group a real estate company entering the telecom industry with its 2G bid; sold 60% of its company stake at huge profit to Telenor after buying licensing[2] * Swan Telecom sold 45% of its company stake at huge profit to Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat) after buying licensing[2] * Loop Mobile * Videocon Telecommunications Limited * S Tel * Reliance Communications
Media persons accused * Nira Radia, a corporate lobbyist whose conversations with politicians and
The government's investigation and the government's reactions to the findings in the investigation were the subject of debate, as were the nature of the Indian media's reactions. The discussion around the reactions to the 2G spectrum scam became known in the media as the Nira Radia tapes controversy.
Much of the credit of bringing this whole scam into public light goes to Dr. Subramanian Swamy who is the chief petitioner for this case in the court of law. [1] * |
Parties accused of involvement
The selling of the licenses brought attention to three groups of entities - politicians who had the authority to sell licenses, corporations who were buying the licenses, and media professionals who mediated between the politicians and the corporations.
Politicians involved * A.RAJA , the Minister of Communications and Information Technology who sold the licenses
Corporations accused * Unitech Group a real estate company entering the telecom industry with its 2G bid; sold 60% of its company stake at huge profit to Telenor after buying licensing[2] * Swan Telecom sold 45% of its company stake at huge profit to Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat) after buying licensing[2] * Loop Mobile * Videocon Telecommunications Limited * S Tel * Reliance Communications
Media persons accused * Nira Radia, a corporate lobbyist whose conversations with politicians and