After blacklisting former Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) chairman G Madhavan Nair and three former space scientists from future government assignments for the way the controversial Antrix-Devas agreement was concluded during their tenures, the Prime Minister?s Office has now done a U-turn, offering to hear them out. Nair tells FE?s Ajay Sukumaran that he thinks there?s something not right about the way the issue has been handled, and has shot off a letter to the PM requesting him to review the order.

The PMO, through minister V Narayanasamy, says it now wants to hear you and the others out. How do you view this?

See, one thing is that I have not received even a copy of the first letter communicating that we are debarred from government service, leave alone the suggestions and all these things. In three days, three different views have been expressed. So unless I see it, I cannot say anything. Today, you have the telex, fax, mail etc. What is the hesitation on the part of the government to communicate directly to me? So, this shows that there is something that is not really open and straightforward.

What have you communicated to the Prime Minister in your letter?

As soon as it came to my notice, I told him this is really an insult to the entire scientific community, especially slamming these four people of international standing. And the entire procedure adopted towards this is not as per any of the existing norms in the country. So the Prime Minister may kindly review and annul the order.

Regarding the procedure followed for the agreement with Devas…

If they have found anything anomalous, or if any one of us had done anything wrong, it is the responsibility on the part of the government to communicate to us and ask for an explanation. And if the explanation is not satisfactory, it should conduct a formal enquiry. And only after a formal enquiry can they take a decision on that. So that whole process is missing in this.

How would you react to the response from the scientific community?

I think the scientific community has responded really positively. All the senior scientists have come out with open statements condemning the action of the government. They know that science and technology cannot be put in a straight jacket. They should have the freedom and if you say that you will tame them, etc, it is never heard of. It is the wrong message to the community. I think CNR Rao has rightly said that scientists have to be given their freedom to work and this kind of thing is not at all conducive to that atmosphere.

Does this mean the scientists were seen as convenient fall guys?

I don?t know, I can only quote from what I hear in the media. The so-called panel has given the names of four scientists and three administrators. And action is taken only on the four scientists. So it is clearly a case of discrimination.

The first panel has not found anything wrong. Again I have not seen the report. To quote from knowledgeable sources, they say there is no loss to the government, no spectrum deal has taken place and, if at all, there are some minor anomalies that have to be set right for the future.

At what stage did the anomaly take place? What has been told to you?

Nothing. So I have asked for the information under the RTI. Let us wait.

You have said the same procedures were followed for the Antrix-Devas agreement and that the government was well aware of it all through?

All the decision-making responsibility rests with the Antrix board and the board has nominees from the government. It is those nominees who have to take care of the interests of the government and, once something is discussed in the board and if that has to be communicated to the government, those nominees will take care of it.

So, you do not need to give the name of the operator?

Not at all, because that may change. See, for the same transponders, suppose halfway through one company fails to operate, we will allot it to somebody else. We will simply say that this capacity is reserved for private usage. Here again, the note which went to the Cabinet clearly stipulated that about 90% capacity will be utilised by private operators simply keeping in mind that if Devas does not succeed, I should have the flexibility to give it to somebody else.

Then why did Isro, in 2011, say that the agreement was not mentioned explicitly?

That itself answers it. It is not mentioned explicitly, implicitly yes. So it is not a crime.

Why then would the organisation take that view if it was standard procedure?

They could not find any other reason, so this was highlighted. And this was a wrong interpretation of the procedures and rules. So I will say this is misleading the government.

After 2009, when the new chairman took over, he asked the Suresh committee to look into the deal. Was this rethink purely because the business environment in India?s telecom sector had changed?

There could have been some pressures from such lobbies to free this space segment and use it for terrestrial applications. But at the same time, you must remember this particular frequency band is reserved for space based services.

So, it was the case that space spectrum was available and one company had access to it?

No, it was not one company. I tell you,we have built two satellites for this purpose. I can put two more satellites and we can get some more slots if we require. So, anybody who is coming afresh will also get access to that because the frequency can be reused by using different slots and different techniques of modulation and so on.

But the complaint is that it seemed like a back-door entry for the company?

There is nothing like a back-door entry. Though we are leasing out transponder capacity, they cannot do any operation in India without a DoT licence. So, they have to go for spectrum clearance and usage fee, etc, to DoT. That action Devas had not initiated yet. And that doesn?t enable them to have access to the ground resources. That?s a different story altogether.

Does Isro need to be more open in the way it functions?

It?s a bad hit as far as the Isro organisation is concerned, but the truth will come out ultimately. But in that time it will go through a shadow.

What?s the truth?

There?s absolutely nothing wrong with the Antrix-Devas agreement. That?s the truth.