CBI probing Anil Ambani's role in 2G scam

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday told the Supreme Court that Anil Ambani was being probed in the 2G spectrum case, as three jailed corporate honchos of Anil Dhirubhai Amabani Group (ADAG) have distanced themselves from any wrongdoing.

In the same breath, it virtually gave a clean chit to Tata and Videocon groups in 2G spectrum scam.

The agency said it was conducting further investigation to find out the real beneficiaries as the arrested executives of the ADAG group have "resiled" from the statements given by them during the probe of the scam.

The company, in a statement, however claimed that none of its three executives has offered to become approver in the case.

CBI, which refuted the allegation of not probing the role of corporate czars, said the three ADAG executives - Gautam Doshi, Surendra Pipara and Hari Nair - in their statements under section 161 of Code of Criminal Procedure had taken the entire responsibility for the decision but in the Delhi High Court they retracted.

"They took responsibility in entirety for the decision but in the High Court (during bail plea) they said they were merely employees and did not receive any benefit," senior advocate K K Venugopal, appearing for CBI, told a bench of Justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly.

Giving a detailed account of its probe into various allegations against Ambani, Tata Group, Videocon-owned Datum and Attorney General G E Vahanvati in 2G scam, the agency said the investigation was still on against Anil Ambani but it has not found evidence regarding the culpability of others in the scam.

The CBI also refuted allegations that Tata Group had gifted land to the DMK's leading family for favours in spectrum allocation. "Unlike Swan and Unitech, Datacom was eligible to get licence," the CBI said, adding, "Tata Teleservices was not favoured by former telecom minister A. Raja."

- with inputs from agencies