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NEW DELHI: (AMN) The Government has decided to issue show cause notices to telecom companies in 85 cases for alleged violation of eligibility norms for getting 2G spectrum. Notices will be served and a thorough probe will be conducted on all firms for suppressing facts and also for missing roll-out obligations as per the terms and conditions of license.
Interacting with media persons here on Monday as Telecom Minister, Kapil Sibal said: "It is time we issued notices to these companies. There are in all 85 such cases."
"These are matters of controversies. We are referring the matter to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs to see whether there were any front companies involved. So, we will take action accordingly," he added.
He also assured a probe to see if the firms had manipulated the self-certification process about their financial strength and their main business as specified in their memorandum of association to get licences for telephone services.
They have been asked why their licenses should not be cancelled for failing to fulfil the eligibility criteria at the time of filing their applications. The Department of Telecommunication will also issue notices in 119 instances, dating back to 2006, for not complying with roll-out obligations. Addressing the media here, the new Communications and IT Minister Kapil Sibbal said that notices will be sent to each of them separately.
Replying to a number of questions, Mr. Sibbal said that the government is not averse to the Supreme Court monitoring investigations into alleged irregularities in 2G spectrum allocation. With regard to the pricing of the 2G Spectrum, Mr. Sibbal said, it is a complex issue and it is only after getting all the facts and thorough analysis that anything can be said about it. He also said, if there are breaches on the part of license holders, legal consequences will follow. Mr. Sibbal also said, there is no question of protecting the guilty and the government will honour the rule of law. The CAG report on 2G spectrum tabled in Parliament had stated that 85 out of 122 new licenses were granted to those companies which did not satisfy the eligibility conditions. It said that they had used fraudulent means for getting the licenses by suppressing facts, disclosing incomplete information and submitting fictitious documents to the DoT.
Meanwhile The CBI today submitted to the Supreme Court the status report on its ongoing investigations into the alleged 2G spectrum allocation scam. The status report was submitted to the apex court registry in a sealed cover. The apex court, earlier on November 25, had castigated the CBI on why it had not questioned former Telecom Minister A Raja and the Telecom Secretary in the case.