Though the ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) is still awaiting a formal intimation from the department of telecommunications (DoT) to investigate the equity structure of Swan Telecom and ascertain whether it acted as a front company, as announced by the telecom minister Kapil Sibal on Monday, sources said the MCA has appointed a nodal officer to direct the registrar of companies (RoC) to cull out details on the MoU and the shareholding pattern of the company, along with other licensees which supressed vital details.
According to sources, the ministry has been working very closely with the CBI, which is conducting a probe into the matter, and is passing on relevant information in the case to them. ?Following the 2G spectrum scam, we have appointed a nodal officer who is looking into the matter. He is in touch with both the CBI and the RoC on this issue,? an MCA official said.
Corporate affairs minister Salman Khurshid told FE that so far, his ministry had not received any official communication from the DoT to probe any specific company. ?We have not received any communication from any of the investigative agencies. However, we continue to do our own due diligence on the matter,? Khurshid said. He also added that the ministry was currently not looking into any specific company.
On Monday, Kapil Sibal had said that the DoT would ask the corporate affairs ministry to investigate the disclosure made by the CAG in its report that Swan Telecom had acted as a front company for Anil Ambani?s Reliance Communication and had secured licences and spectrum in 2008. However, Reliance Communication has, in a statement, said it had offloaded 9.9% equity stake that it had held in Swan by December 2007.
On Monday, FE had reported that the corporate affairs ministry is also planning to investigate the loan for scam case which concerns several public sector banks and the largest home finance company, LIC Housing Finance. Though it is yet to take a final call on the matter, sources said it would seek details on the loan agreements that the banks have entered into with housing companies.