Agencies/New Delhi
 |
|
Ratan Tata, chairman of the Tata Group enter the parliament complex to appear before a parliamentary panel probing a multi-billion dollar telecoms graft scandal yesterday |
The chief of the Tata conglomerate was questioned for almost three hours by the Public Accounts Committee over the allegedly fraudulent distribution of licences in 2008 to top telecom firms, Murli Manohar Joshi said.
“Tata answered to all our questions with an open mind and without concealing anything,” Joshi, a senior member of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, said after the question session ended at the parliament building.
The Public Accounts Committee, a permanent body comprising MPs and retired judges, is heading one of a number of investigations into the scam, which is potentially the biggest in Indian history.
Joshi declined to give details of what Tata, one of India’s most respected business figures, told the 13-member committee.
The panel will today quiz billionaire Anil Ambani, who heads Reliance ADA Group in connection with the case.
Tata’s company, Tata Teleservices, was one of the victims of the opaque licensing process, according to a police charge-sheet, which claims that former telecom minister A Raja took bribes to favour other companies.
Police charged Raja with abuse of power and conspiracy on Saturday over documented losses of $6.7bn. The national auditor has said total losses could be up to $40bn.
While neither Tata nor his company has been charged, three executives employed by a telecom unit of Ambani will face trial for their alleged role in the case.
Under enormous pressure from the opposition, the government has also agreed to form a joint parliamentary committee of 30 politicians who will conduct a separate probe.
Influential lobbyist Radia, who served as a senior media adviser to Tata and a host of other companies, also appeared before the PAC yesterday.
Joshi said Radia, who was questioned ahead of Tata, was “evasive.”
“She was hesitant in answering and she was often evasive and told us ‘I don’t remember many things’,” Joshi said, hinting Radia and perhaps Tata could be summoned again by the committee for further questioning.
The telecom scandal has tarnished the reputation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the ruling Congress Party, while raising anxiety about government corruption and its impact on business in India.
The scandal has sparked worries several firms could lose valuable telecoms licences after investing billions of dollars in India, prompting Norway’s Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg to lobby his Indian counterpart on behalf of state-controlled Telenor, one of the affected firms.
Stoltenberg wrote to Singh seeking fair treatment for Telenor.
“Norwegian authorities want to make sure the Indian government does what it can to ensure that Telenor and other foreign investors in India’s telecom market receive fair treatment,” Deputy Trade Minister Rikke Lind said in an e-mail to newspaper Aftenposten.
Adding close to 19mn phone users a month, India is the world’s fastest-growing and the second-largest telecoms market, but fierce competition and rock-bottom call rates have made it rough going for the 15 operators that slug it out.
Tata had earlier backed Raja and the policy changes he made, saying they “broke the powerful cartel which had been holding back competition.”
All of the accused in the case have denied wrongdoing.
Yesterday, Telenor said the events described in the charges were prior to its entry into India and the firm would “fight for its rights.”
“(Telenor’s investment) was in a company that already had a genuine licence issued by the Indian government with all necessary approvals. These investments were cleared by the government of India at each stage,” it said in a statement.
Meanwhile, voting began in the first of five state elections over the next few months that will indicate how much political damage has been inflicted by corruption scandals and high inflation to Singh and the ruling Congress Party.