BENGALURU: Former Isro chairman Gopalan Madhavan Nair, who signed the agreement for lease of S-band spectrum to Devas Multimedia but was condemned along with three other top space scientists, wants a fresh probe by the Union government into motives behind cancellation of the contract.
He has made this demand in the wake of the Paris-based International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) asking Antrix Corporation to cough up $672 million as damages to Devas Multimedia for breach of their satellite contract. The ICC tribunal had pointed out that then Chairman of ISRO Dr K. Radhakrishnan could have prevented the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) from calling off the deal.
On a day when Antrix Corporation said it is preparing to file in court its ‘application for remedy’ against a ‘shocking’ verdict handed out by ICC, Mr Nair told Deccan Chronicle, “it is unfortunate that ISRO has been penalized because of illegal action taken by Dr Radhakrishnan and his team. The government has to inquire and take appropriate action because some dark forces acted behind annulment of the contract. There was no dialogue with representatives of Devas before cancelling the contract, and all actions taken by ISRO between 2010 and 2011 (the deal was called off in February 2011 on grounds that it was not in the security interests of the country) are shrouded in mystery. It is clear that he lied and misled the government and therefore must be held accountable. We (he and three others) were punished despite our contributions to the space programme, and the records have established that none of us were involved in financial transactions.”
Mr Nair said the Union government is now on the threshold of losing more than Rs 4,300 crores though the CAG, in the final report, pointed out that the deal could have helped rake in revenues in excess of Rs 1,300 crores.
As per the contract signed on January 28, 2005, between Devas and Antrix, Devas was to lease part of the S-band spectrum from two satellites that were to be manufactured and launched by ISRO. As part of the deal, Devas was to pay Antrix around $ 300 million for the right to use the spectrum for 12 years, extendable by an additional 12 years. Devas intended to use the spectrum to provide audio, video and broadband services using a mix of satellite and terrestrial technology.
UAE wants to up ties with ISRO
A delegation from the UAE Space Agency has undertaken a visit to the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) to discuss possibilities of cooperation between the two space organisations. The delegation was led by Khalifa Al Rumaithi, chairman of the UAE Space Agency, and Mohammed Nasser Al Ahbabi, director-general, according to statement released by official WAM news agency. This is part of the agency’s efforts to build strategic partnerships and achieve goals of regional and international cooperation within the industry, it said.
