To establish the entire alleged criminal conspiracy in the case, the CBI has told a Delhi court that Sadiq Batcha, a realtor and a close business associate of former telecom minister A. Raja, was running his firm Green House Promoters Pvt Ltd (GHPPL) under the influence of Shahid Usman Balwa and Vinod Goenka of DB Group, accused in the 2G spectrum scam.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has recorded the statement of Batcha’s personal assistant M. Kevin Amritraj, under Section 161 of the Criminal Code of Procedure (CrPC).
Mr Amritraj told the probe agency that Batcha, who was the managing director of the GHPPL, had fired over 40 employees on the recommendation of Balwa.
This recording of statements was later submitted to the Patiala house court special CBI judge O.P. Saini, who was specifically assigned by the Supreme Court to hear the 2G spectrum scam case. Batcha, who was interrogated by the investigating agency, CBI, was allegedly found dead under mysterious circumstances in Chennai in March 17. Mr Amritraj further told the agency that the employees were removed in furtherance of certain plan or tieup between the two firms.
On being asked by the agency about the relation between the GHPPL and DB Group, Mr Amritraj said that many officials of the GHPPL were interviewed by a team of DB Realty during late 2008 and on their recommendations, around 42 employees were removed by the Promoters.
He also said that `1.25 crores was transferred by one Eterna Developers Pvt Ltd, a DB Group firm, to GHPPL and the same amount was paid back by Batcha’s firm also.
Amritraj was offered job by Batcha and he joined the firm as personal assistant to him. “I am also aware that one company of the DB Group, Eterna Developers Pvt Ltd, had some business transactions with GHPPL. It (Eterna Developers) transferred around `1.25 crores to Green House Promoters and after some time, this amount was also paid back by Green House Promoters to Eterna Developers,” Mr Amritraj told the agency.
He told CBI that he was later designated as business advisor and his main duties were to arrange dealings between the important clients and Green House Promoters. As per the CBI, the former telecom minister’s wife Parmeshwari, his brother A. Kaliaperumal and another nephew Ramachandran Raganesh were other directors of the firm GHPPL.