The CBI on Monday informed a Delhi court that it had obtained sanction to prosecute former ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair and others for allegedly extending illegal monetary benefit of ₹578 crore to a private multimedia company, Devas, by Antrix, ISRO’s commercial arm.
The other accused whose prosecution was approved are A. Bhaskar Narayana Rao, former Director in ISRO, and K.R. Sridhar Murthy, former Executive Director of Antrix.
Taking note of the submission, Special Judge Virender Kumar Goyal granted a month’s time to the CBI to obtain sanction to prosecute accused Veena S. Rao, former Additional Secretary in the Department of Space, and posted the matter for June 1.
The investigating agency on August 11 last year filed a charge sheet alleging that Mr. Nair and other senior Space Department officials had caused a loss of ₹578 crore to the exchequer by abusing their official position to favour the private company.
The case relates to leasing S-Band, restricted wavelength of INSAT satellites, to deliver video, multimedia and information services to mobile receivers in vehicles and mobile phones to Devas Multimedia by Antrix.
Criminal conspiracy
The charge sheet accuses then Secretary, Department of Space, ISRO and Antrix Corporation Chairman Mr. Nair, Devas Multimedia and others of entering into a criminal conspiracy, committing cheating under the Indian Penal Code and indulging in corruption under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The other accused are Ramachandra Vishwanathan, former ISRO scientist, M.G. Chandrasekhar, former Additional Secretary in the Department of Space, and two directors of Devas Multimedia, D. Venugopal and M. Umesh.
The government officials abused their position to favour Devas by giving it rights for delivery of videos, multimedia content and information services to mobile phones using S-Band through GSAT-6 and GSAT-6A satellites and terrestrial systems in India, the charge sheet said.
