New Delhi: The report released by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) indicting its former chief G Madhavan Nair has sparked off a war of words between him and the government.
After Mr Nair called the government's report "one-sided", that found "serious procedural lapses" in the Antrix-Devas deal, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) today hit back saying that the ex-ISRO boss has "misled the nation".
"Madhavan Nair misled the nation, saying that he was not given an opportunity to explain. But, the Pratyush Sinha committee report clearly mentions that there was a personal hearing of Madhavan Nair and he was heard. Therefore, the principle of natural justice has been followed in his case. The other scientists also were given the questionnaire and they have replied," said V Narayanasamy, Minister of State, PMO.
Mr Narayanasamy's comments came after Mr Nair had trashed the ISRO report yesterday, accusing the space agency of being selective in revealing facts. "Whatever bits and pieces are being released shows that they don't want to reveal the full facts...the portions which are quoted from Pratyush Sinha committee are inaccurate and inconsistent... If a committee works on one-sided basis, that is the Pratyush Sinha committee that I am referring to. Most of the meetings were attended only by Secretary of Devas and chairman of the panel," he said.
The five-member committee, headed by former Chief Vigilance Commissioner Pratyush Sinha, was set up in May last year and was tasked into studying the controversial contract between ISRO's commercial arm Antrix and a private firm Devas over the sale of the scarce S-band spectrum. The deal was under the scanner over the said spectrum having been sold at inexplicably low prices under Mr Nair's tenure as the ISRO chief.
The committee's report, made public on Saturday night, indicted Mr Nair and others in ISRO, saying the Devas-Antrix deal had "serious procedural lapses" but did not result in any loss to the exchequer. It further said that the deal "seems to be lacking in transparency and due diligence". The committee has further recommended action against Mr Nair and three other scientists - A Bhaskaranarayana, K R Sridhara Murthi and K N Shankara all of whom have since retired. The four have been blacklisted by the government from holding any official position over their alleged role in the Antrix-Devas deal. (Read: ISRO report indicts ex-chief Nair, finds lapses in Antrix-Devas deal)
In 2005, ISRO's commercial arm, Antrix, agreed to build two satellites and provide scarce S-band spectrum for Devas, which planned to offer commercial broadband services. Devas was told to pay Rs. 1000 crore - a sweetheart deal that, according to some estimates, meant the government would incur losses worth two lakh crore rupees. Media reports rocketed the deal into controversy last year, especially embarrassing for the government since ISRO reports directly to the Prime Minister's Office. In May last year, the Prime Minister set up a five-member committee to examine the agreement between Antrix and Devas after media reports exposed the problematic contract.
Mr Nair blames his successor at ISRO, K Radhakrishnan, for misrepresenting the facts. "He (Radhakrishnan) has misled the Government on the whole issue (the controversial Devas deal). He is the key person who worked behind this; he misled and mis-communicated to the Government," alleged Mr Nair.
Meanwhile, Dr Radhakrishnan has said there is nothing personal against Mr Nair.
-NDTV
After Mr Nair called the government's report "one-sided", that found "serious procedural lapses" in the Antrix-Devas deal, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) today hit back saying that the ex-ISRO boss has "misled the nation".
"Madhavan Nair misled the nation, saying that he was not given an opportunity to explain. But, the Pratyush Sinha committee report clearly mentions that there was a personal hearing of Madhavan Nair and he was heard. Therefore, the principle of natural justice has been followed in his case. The other scientists also were given the questionnaire and they have replied," said V Narayanasamy, Minister of State, PMO.
Mr Narayanasamy's comments came after Mr Nair had trashed the ISRO report yesterday, accusing the space agency of being selective in revealing facts. "Whatever bits and pieces are being released shows that they don't want to reveal the full facts...the portions which are quoted from Pratyush Sinha committee are inaccurate and inconsistent... If a committee works on one-sided basis, that is the Pratyush Sinha committee that I am referring to. Most of the meetings were attended only by Secretary of Devas and chairman of the panel," he said.
The five-member committee, headed by former Chief Vigilance Commissioner Pratyush Sinha, was set up in May last year and was tasked into studying the controversial contract between ISRO's commercial arm Antrix and a private firm Devas over the sale of the scarce S-band spectrum. The deal was under the scanner over the said spectrum having been sold at inexplicably low prices under Mr Nair's tenure as the ISRO chief.
The committee's report, made public on Saturday night, indicted Mr Nair and others in ISRO, saying the Devas-Antrix deal had "serious procedural lapses" but did not result in any loss to the exchequer. It further said that the deal "seems to be lacking in transparency and due diligence". The committee has further recommended action against Mr Nair and three other scientists - A Bhaskaranarayana, K R Sridhara Murthi and K N Shankara all of whom have since retired. The four have been blacklisted by the government from holding any official position over their alleged role in the Antrix-Devas deal. (Read: ISRO report indicts ex-chief Nair, finds lapses in Antrix-Devas deal)
In 2005, ISRO's commercial arm, Antrix, agreed to build two satellites and provide scarce S-band spectrum for Devas, which planned to offer commercial broadband services. Devas was told to pay Rs. 1000 crore - a sweetheart deal that, according to some estimates, meant the government would incur losses worth two lakh crore rupees. Media reports rocketed the deal into controversy last year, especially embarrassing for the government since ISRO reports directly to the Prime Minister's Office. In May last year, the Prime Minister set up a five-member committee to examine the agreement between Antrix and Devas after media reports exposed the problematic contract.
Mr Nair blames his successor at ISRO, K Radhakrishnan, for misrepresenting the facts. "He (Radhakrishnan) has misled the Government on the whole issue (the controversial Devas deal). He is the key person who worked behind this; he misled and mis-communicated to the Government," alleged Mr Nair.
Meanwhile, Dr Radhakrishnan has said there is nothing personal against Mr Nair.
-NDTV
Antrix-Devas deal: Madhavan Nair slams Sinha panel report
Reacting to the public disclosure of the reports by two high-level committees on the controversial Antrix-Devas deal, former ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair, who has been barred by the government along with three other scientists for their role in the deal, said only one of the reports had looked at the issue objectively and in its entirety.
“It is absolutely clear that the second report (by the committee headed by former CVC Pratyush Sinha to fix responsibility for lapses in the Devas deal) is totally distorted. This is because the person who complained about the deal (current ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan) is a member of the committee,” said Nair.
The Department of Space and ISRO, as indicated last week, made public late on Saturday night the full report of the two-man commission featuring former cabinet secretary B K Chaturvedi and member of the Space Commission Roddam Narasimha, and a portion of that by the five-member Pratyush Sinha committee.
DoS Secretary and ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan had sought clearances from the PMO last week for making the two reports public, in light of the ban on four scientists and the allegation that the ISRO chief’s “personal agenda” was behind the ban.
“The first committee has spoken to a lot of people and has not recommended any action. The second committee has made an erroneous judgment when nothing wrong has been done. It is largely based on paper work,” Nair said on Sunday.
“This is what happens if you see everybody with suspicion and only see the current Secretary of the Department of Space as being above board. I am astonished at the description of administrative officers connected to the deal as file pushers in the second report,” said the former ISRO chairman.
Nair said he was now waiting for the Prime Minister to respond to his demand for a proper inquiry into the deal for the restoration of the honour of the scientists involved.
Asked if his flamboyant style of working was responsible for mistakes and oversight creeping into the procedures adopted for the realisation of the Antrix-Devas deal, Nair said: “It is the same style of functioning that also resulted in more than half of ISRO’s successful missions.”
On his failure to report to the Cabinet allocation of almost the entire transponder capacities on two ISRO satellites to Devas Multimedia, Nair said there was no mandatory requirement to bring to the Cabinet decisions finalised by the Antrix Board.
“The Space Commission had been kept informed orally on the progress of all ISRO activities from time to time. Devas contract was one of the hundreds of activities reported in a year,’’ he added.
Nair said only portions of the Pratyush Sinha committee report had been made public in an effort to defend the government’s actions against the four scientists. “They should come out with the analysis,” he said, adding that everything from the process of negotiation with Devas should be made public.
Former Antrix Corporation managing director K R Sridhara Murthi, who has also been barred by the government, said ISRO must make public the entire processes in the Devas deal and not just portions relevant to the action against him and three others.
-Indian Express
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