2G case: Former TRAI Chairman deposes as prosecution witness

Former TRAI Chairman Nripendra Mishra on Thursday told a Delhi court, trying the 2G spectrum case, that ex-Telecom Secretary Siddharth Behura, an accused in the case, had written a letter to him in January, 2008, saying the government's action on spectrum issue was in accordance with the established policy.

Deposing as a prosecution witness, Mishra said the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had repeatedly conveyed the message to the DoT that in case there was any deviation from recommendations made by TRAI on the issue of allocation of spectrum, the authority should be consulted.

"I have also been shown a letter dated January 23, 2008, written by Behura, the then Secretary DoT, to me....The letter, after analysis, has concluded that the action of the government was in accordance with the established policy and it also advised TRAI that in view of the matter being agitated before TDSAT and the High Court, it was not desirable to engage in such correspondence between TRAI and DoT as it is subjudice.

"On this, there was no further correspondence between between TRAI and DoT as government's communication had to be honoured," Mishra told Special CBI Judge OP Saini.

He said TRAI, through its two letters on January 14, 2008, had communicated to the Department of Telecom (DoT) about the criterion of subscriber base for allocation of spectrum, issue of determining spectrum usage charges and clarification on the existing policy of no limits on the number of access service providers.