shahid-balwa

Realty firms DB Realty and Unitech’s troubles are likely to get worse. The CBI is now likely to probe the two companies real estate projects that were cleared by former telecom minister A Raja during his tenure as environment minister from 2004 to 2007. CBI sources said Unitech and DB Realty (whose telecom arm Swan Telecom is alleged to have given kickbacks in the 2G scam) had obtained environmental clearances for some of their key projects during Raja’s tenure. “These clearances could be linked to the 2G spectrum scam too,” a CBI official said. Sources added that Raja had given the clearances at the instance of RK Chandolia, then director of planning and coordination in the environment ministry. Chandolia later became Raja’s personal secretary at the telecom ministry. According to the CBI, as many as 2,016 projects got environmental clearances in just two years, of which Vinod Goenka and Shahid Balwa, promoters of DB Realty, benefitted the most. The link between the realty companies and Raja went back to his previous tenure as the minister of environment. “This unholy friendship culminated in all these companies getting the clearance certificate to their future projects,” the official said, adding that the friends in the real estate community were asked to apply for 2G spectrum which was seen as a very lucrative business. Meanwhile, the bail pleas of five corporate executives arrested in the 2G scam will be heard in the Delhi high court Monday. The CBI have already arrested nine accused in the case including Raja, Chandolia, former telecom secretary Siddhartha Behura, DB realty promoters Shahid Balwa and Vinod Goenka, Sanjay Chandra of Unitech and Gautam Doshi, Hari Nair and Surendra Pipara of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG). A Raja and eight others have been charged with criminal conspiracy, forgery, cheating and corruption under the IPC.