D. Subbarao, governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), appeared in a Delhi court Monday and deposed as a prosecution witness in the 2G case
Subbarao, who was the finance secretary from April 2007 to September 2008, told Special CBI Judge O.P. Saini that in 2007 he had questioned the basis for calculating the spectrum fee proposed for pan-India telecom licences.
He said that on Nov 22, 2007, he wrote to then telecom secretary D.S. Mathur questioning how the spectrum fee of Rs.1,600 crore, which was fixed in 2001, could be charged from licence seekers in 2007.
The court has recorded statements of 77 Central Bureau of Investigation witnesses so far.
The court on Nov 11, 2011 started the daily trial after accepting the CBI plea and framing graft and other charges against 17 accused, including former telecom minister A. Raja and DMK MP Kanimozhi. All individual accused are out on bail.
According to the government auditor, Raja was biased while distributing second generation (2G) mobile airwaves and operating licences to telecom firms, causing a loss of up to Rs.1.76 lakh crore in revenue to the treasury.