Former Telecom Secretary Siddharth Behura, who is in jail in connection with the 2G scam, “doctored” the seniority list of applicants to extend “undue” benefits to Swan Telecom in the spectrum allocation, the CBI told the Delhi High Court on Thursday.
“The role and complicity of Behura in the case is very clear as he legitimized the application of ineligible firm Swan Telecom Private Ltd and compromised with the seniority list of the applicants to extend undue benefits to it,” senior advocate and special prosecutor U.U. Lalit told Justice Ajit Bharihoke.
Opposing the bail application of Mr. Behura, Mr. Lalit said “there was only one vacant slot (for grant of spectrum) for lucrative Delhi circle and Swan could not have got license if the accused had acted fairly.”
The Swan Telecom, placed at fifth position in the seniority list, could not have walked away with the spectrum for Delhi circle as Spice and Tata were ahead of it, he said.
Because of the “omission and commission” of the accused, Swan Telecom promoted by co-accused Shahid Balwa got away with the spectrum, he said.
Due to the “ill-conceived” design in implementing the first-come-first-served (FCFS) policy, a desperate race was created at the office of the DoT here where physical fitness of the representatives of the firms decided the allocation of scarce spectrum, he said.
“The undue haste shown in awarding the UAS licenses to Swan Telecom and deliberate deletion of the last sentence in the draft press release, after being approved by the then Solicitor General, amply indicate the role of Behura in the case,” he said.
