NEW DELHI: A prosecution witness in the 2G spectrum allocation scam case today told a Delhi court that Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Balwa, an accused in the case, was pursuing the licence and spectrum issue of the firm and co-accused Vinod Goenka had nothing to do with it.
Testifying as a witness, Vinod Kumar Budhiraja, Chief Regulatory Officer of Etisalat DB Telecom (P) Ltd, said Shahid Balwa was authorised in 2007 by the Board of Swan Telecom to deal with the authorities in connection with the Unified Access Services (UAS) Licences.
"It is correct that it was Shahid Balwa who was acting on behalf of the company in connection with application for UAS licences, pursuing the same and obtaining licence and spectrum and matter connected thereto. Vinod Goenka had nothing to do with this telecom business," he told Special CBI Judge O P Saini.
Budhiraja said Swan Telecom Pvt Ltd, which is now known as Etisalat DB Telecom Pvt Ltd, had on December 7, 2007, nformed the Department of Telecom (DoT) regarding the exit of Reliance Telecom Ltd from its equity as well as preference capital.
"The chart attached with this (December 7, 2007) letter shows the change of shareholding pattern in STPL as on December 7, 2007. I have also been shown a letter dated December 10, 2007, written by DoT to STPL seeking clarifications/information.
"....Before this letter was sent, STPL had already communicated to DoT the exit of Reliance Telecom from it," he said.
Budhiraja, whose recording of statement concluded today, said shareholders of STPL did not sell any share to Etisalat Mauritius which infused capital in STPL in December 2008.