2G scam: PAC quizzes Anil Ambani

The members asked Ambani to join them just after 1:00 PM and discussions with him continued for nearly two hours.

He was asked questions on issues related to the 2G spectrum allocation as also 3G auction that was held last year.

8220;He was very free and frank,8221; said a PAC member.

Another member said Ambani referred to the CBI charge sheet in the 2G allocation case and expressed his inability to speak in detail as the matter was sub-judice.

He is understood to have justified the 8216;first come,first served8217; policy in the allocation of 2G spectrum and favoured the auction route for 3G spectrum allocation.

Jhamb,who appeared before the PAC along with his senior colleagues from Etisalat DB,was quizzed by members for over two hours. The company officials told the Committee that Shahid Balwa,who is in CBI custody in connection with the 2G scam,was a partner.

S-Tel CEO Shamik Das was also questioned by the PAC while Unitech Wireless Managing Director Sigve Brekke is to appear before it.

The PAC had yesterday quizzed Tata Sons Chairman Ratan Tata and corporate lobbyist Niira Radia in connection with the 2G spectrum scam.

The panel had quizzed Radia,Chairperson of Vaishnavi Corporate Communications VCC,for two hours and Tata for three hours on issues related to the scam.

A VCC statement later said that Radia had extended her cooperation and offered clarification on all issues to the PAC.

2G scam: Anil Ambani faces PAC today

Anil Ambani,the billionaire chairman of Reliance ADA group,will appear on Tuesday to answer a parliamentary panel PAC led by BJP8217;s Murli Manohar Joshi investigating a multi-billion dollar telecoms graft scandal 2G scam that has rocked the country8217;s political and business establishment.

Ambani8217;s testimony comes days after the CBI indicted officials and a unit of his group for conspiracy,cheating and other offences during a flawed 2008 telecoms licence grant process that may have lost India up to 39 billion in revenue.

The scandal is the largest of the many corruption cases to have emerged in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh8217;s second term. It has badly damaged the government8217;s credibility and set off worries about regulatory risk in Asia8217;s third largest economy.

Reliance Telecom,a unit of Reliance Communications,and three Reliance ADA officials are accused by police of conspiring to set up Swan Telecom as a front company to gain valuable radio spectrum. Indian rules prohibit an existing licence holder from owning more than 10 percent in another operator in the same market.

Ambani,one of India8217;s highest profile businessmen,was to be questioned a day after tycoon Ratan Tata appeared before the same Public Accounts Committee PAC.

While the committee8217;s recommendations are not binding on the government,the spectacle of some India8217;s biggest business names being questioned is almost unheard of in a country where leading tycoons have long been seen as untouchable.

8220;It is very significant that important corporate captains are being asked to explain their role,8221; political analyst Paranjoy Guha Thakurta said.

8220;Whether it is going to lead to a very significant and dramatic change in the way that it shifts the nexus between big business and politics is an altogether different question.8221;

The parliament committee,which scrutinises government accounts,is headed by Murli Manohar Joshi,an independent minded lawmaker from the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party BJP.

Police on Saturday charged former telecoms minister Andimuthu Raja,three officials and a unit of Reliance ADA group and the Indian joint venture partners of Norway8217;s Telenor and of UAE8217;s Etisalat in the case.

All the accused have denied any wrongdoing. Etisalat and Telenor have said the events described in the charges occurred before they made entered India.

The telecoms ministry is considering whether to cancel several licences issued during that period,potentially jeopardising billions of dollars in investment that operators have made in the world8217;s second-largest mobile market by users.

Such worries prompted the Norwegian prime minister write to Singh seeking 8220;fair treatment8221; for Telenor.

The corruption charges have weighed on the stock market,with the benchmark Mumbai index ending the March quarter as the world8217;s worst performer.

The telecom scandal saw the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party BJP all-but shutting down an entire session of parliament demanding a special cross-party panel investigate the charges. The government agreed to the demand,and that panel is carrying out parallel hearings.

The Supreme Court,which is monitoring the CBI investigation,had reprimanded Singh for not acting quickly enough against telecoms minister and had ordered police to go after the rich and powerful involved in the case.

8220;We have a large number of people who think themselves to be above the law. You must catch all of them. Merely because a person is in the Forbes list of millionaires and billionaires does not matter,8221; the court said in February.