ICSI pulls up company secys of Swan, Loop on 2G report

The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) has pulled up the company secretaries of two telecom companies whose names have been mentioned in the Comptroller and Auditor General's (CAG's) report on the controversial allotment of airwaves.

The two officials named in the report are Hari Nair, representing Swan Telecom, and Vidyadhar Chakradeo, the company secretary of Loop Telecom.

While one has responded to the showcause notice, the reply from the other is expected, according to ICSI Chief Executive N K Jain. A high-powered group of the institute was examining the response, he added.

Depending on the outcome of its inquiry, the institute may issue showcause notices to company secretaries of other companies that also figure in the CAG report. "We consider these inquires as test cases and the matter is being legally examined," Jain said.

The primary allegation in the CAG report that concerns ICSI is that the companies submitted false certificates from their secretaries with regard to the paid-up capital to make themselves eligible for spectrum allotment.

In addition to Swan Telecom and Loop, the other companies accused of submitting false certificates related to paid-up capital are Unitech group firms, Datacom Solutions Pvt Ltd (changed to Videocon Telecommunications) and S Tel Ltd.

CAG had found that the e-mail ID of Reliance Communications, an Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, as well as the registered office of Swan Telecom Pvt Ltd in its application, dated March 2, 2007, which led to the showcause notice to Nair.

The CAG report has triggered one of the biggest controversies of the recent times with the current session of Parliament failing to have even one sitting due to the Opposition's demand for a joint parliamentary committee probe into the whole 2G spectrum allotment episode.

It also saw the exit of Communications Minister A Raja.