Skip to main content

CBI failed to challenge 2015 excess spectrum order: Public prosecutor

CBI failed to challenge 2015 excess spectrum order: Public prosecutor
The public prosecutor in the 2G spectrum case, Anand Grover, told the Supreme Court that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had not followed his recommendation to challenge a 2015 special court order acquitting all the accused in the excess spectrum case.
Grover made the complaint even as the top court bench monitoring telecom cases demanded a status report from the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate on their investigations into alleged irregularities related to the Aircel-Maxis deal.The public prosecutor had faced the special court's flak last month when it acquitted all the accused, including former telecom minister and DMK leader A Raja and his party colleague and MP Kanimozhi, in the 2G case.
An appeal against the December 22, 2017, judgement is expected to be filed in the Delhi High Court, challenging the acquittal and also seeking expunging of the adverse remarks the special court made against the public prosecutor.But in the excess spectrum case dating back to 2002, where the same court acquitted former telecom secretary Shyamal Ghosh and telecom firms Bharti AirtelBSE 1.36 % and Vodafone India, the CBI has done nothing despite its officials agreeing with his opinion to challenge it, Grover said.

Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta claimed that a revision had not been filed in that case because the attorney general had given an opinion against it. He, however, sought more time to take a call on the issue. "Please grant us 10 days or two weeks to deal with it," he said.
Grover asked how the government could interfere on the basis of AG's opinion when the top court was monitoring a caseIn that case, the CBI had argued that the exchequer had suffered a loss of more than ?800 crore after excess spectrum was allotted to these companies at a lower price. But the special judge discharged all without framing charges citing lack of evidence.
In the Aircel-Maxis case, the Maran brothers — Dayanidhi and Kalanithi — were discharged early last year by the same court, saying that they had been charged on a misreading of official documents.
The  Economic Times, New Delhi, 5th January 2018

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

RBI deputy governor cautions fintech platform lenders on privacy concerns during loan recovery

  India's digital lending infrastructure has made the loan sanctioning system online. Yet, loan recovery still needs a “feet on the street” approach, Swaminathan J, deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India, said at a media event on Tuesday, September 2, according to news agency ANI.According to the ANI report, the deputy governor flagged that fintech operators in the digital lending segment are giving out loans to customers with poor credit profiles and later using aggressive recovery tactics.“While loan sanctioning and disbursement have become increasingly digital, effective collection and recovery still require a 'feet on the street' and empathetic approach. Many fintech platforms operate on a business model that involves extending small-value loans to customers often with poor credit profiles,” Swaminathan J said.   Fintech platforms' business models The central bank deputy governor highlighted that many fintech platforms' business models involve providing sm

Credit card spending growth declines on RBI gaze, stress build-up

  Credit card spends have further slowed down to 16.6 per cent in the current financial year (FY25), following the Reserve Bank of India’s tightening of unsecured lending norms and rising delinquencies, and increased stress in the portfolio.Typically, during the festival season (September–December), credit card spends peak as several credit card-issuing banks offer discounts and cashbacks on e-commerce and other platforms. This is a reversal of trend in the past three financial years stretching to FY21 due to RBI’s restrictions.In the previous financial year (FY24), credit card spends rose by 27.8 per cent, but were low compared to FY23 which surged by 47.5 per cent. In FY22, the spending increased 54.1 per cent, according to data compiled by Macquarie Research.ICICI Bank recorded 4.4 per cent gross credit losses in its FY24 credit card portfolio as against 3.2 per cent year-on-year. SBI Cards’ credit losses in the segment stood at 7.4 per cent in FY24 and 6.2 per cent in FY23, the rep

India can't rely on wealthy to drive growth: Ex-RBI Dy Guv Viral Acharya

  India can’t rely on wealthy individuals to drive growth and expect the overall economy to improve, Viral Acharya, former deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Monday.Acharya, who is the C V Starr Professor of Economics in the Department of Finance at New York University’s Stern School of Business (NYU-Stern), said after the Covid-19 pandemic, rural consumption and investments have weakened.We can’t be pumping our growth through the rich and expect that the economy as a whole will do better,” he said while speaking at an event organised by Elara Capital here.f there has to be a trickle-down, it should have actually happened by now,” Acharya said, adding that when the rich keep getting wealthier and wealthier, they have a savings problem.   “The bank account keeps getting bigger, hence they look for financial assets to invest in. India is closed, so our money can't go outside India that easily. So, it has to chase the limited financial assets in the country and