Karnik backs ISRO deal,asks what rules broken

Karnik who had resigned as independent member from the Devas Board after the controversy broke blamed the media for making fanciful projections of presumed loss.

He said the reason cited for cancelling the agreement strategic needs and societal applications was unlikely to find any takers among professionals who understand the issue.

In terms of processes,as far as I know,this agreement went meticulously through every step8230;If Cabinet approval was not sought for the deal,the question is whether it was at all required and whether past transponder deals with private parties has gone through any such specific Cabinet approvals, Karnik wrote in a letter to the Prime Minister.

The method of leasing transponders at a fixed price was no different than that followed for the many TV channels who had earlier sought capacity for broadcasting. There has never been a history of auctions by ISRO nor,as far as I know,by any global space agency, he said.

Antrix Corporation,the commercial arm of ISRO and fully owned by the government,had entered into a contract with Bangalore-based private firm Devas Multimedia in 2005 for the use of two yet-to-be-launched satellites for providing satellite-based applications for mobile devices through S-band frequencies.

The contract gave Devas Multimedia access to 70 MHz of the 150 MHz spectrum that ISRO owns in the S-band. Amid allegations of wrongful allocation of spectrum,the government last month cancelled the agreement,saying it needed the whole of S-band for strategic applications.

Karnik said the deal as well as its monetary value was completely defensible and the government should have spoken up and made it clear that there was no indication whatsoever of corruption or wrongdoing at any stage,that all procedures had been properly followed and that the agreement had gone through all the necessary due process.

Asked whether his resignation from the Devas Board did not send out similar signals,Karnik said he had quit only because he did not have the time or the energy to spend on offering explanations,particularly to the media.

As part of the Devas Board,I felt I was morally responsible to respond to queries and defend the companys integrity and I did not have the time to indulge in that, he said.