The CBI Saturday registered a case against former telecom secretary Shyamal Ghosh and three leading cellular companies over its probe on alleged irregularities in the award of additional spectrum licences when late Pramod Mahajan was communications minister in the NDA government.
Sources said another former telecom official, J.R. Gupta, deputy director-general (value added services), was also named in the FIR filed under Section 120-B IPC (criminal conspiracy) and various Prevention of Corruption Act clauses.
Immediately after filing the case, CBI teams searched the offices of these cellular companies and the residences of Ghosh and Gupta. The searches were conducted at the offices of the companies in Mumbai, Gurgaon and the homes of Ghosh and Gupta.
Both the telecom companies said afterwards that they maintained the highest standards of corporate governance and regulatory compliance, and were cooperating with the investigating agency.