2G witness 'identifies' ADAG official's signature

The ADAG President (Corporate Affairs) told the special court on the second day of his cross-examination that Nair appeared to have certified these documents in his capacity as company secretary in 2007 “on behalf of Swan Telecom”.  Continuing his deposition before the trial court, Sethuraman verified his signature on various applications filed by M/s Swan Telecom (P) Ltd seeking UAS licences for 15 circles. He said the attached documents relating to equity shares of the company (Swan Telecom) and its shareholders “appears to be signed by Hari Nair”.

He told the court that he had written to the Department of Telecom (DoT) informing the change of name from Swan Capital Pvt Ltd to Swan Telecom (P) Ltd, on March 6, 2007 and that the letter accompanied a certificate issued by Nair.

Sethuraman also clarified that although he continues to be on the pay roll of Reliance ADAG, he signed and filed the 15 applications seeking UAS licences in his capacity as authorised signatory for M/s Swan Telecom (P) Ltd and on the telephonic instructions of one Anand Bhatt, who introduced himself as a director of the company. Three senior executives of ADAG-led Reliance Telecom Ltd (RTL) - Gautam Doshi, Surendra Pipara and Hari Nair - are on trial in the 2G spectrum allocation case on the ground that Swan Telecom Pvt Ltd (STPL) was “just a front company” put up by Reliance to capture more telecom circles. Through its various witnesses, CBI will try to prove this to the court.

Group MD, Reliance ADAG, Sethuraman said after completion of all the applications when he contacted Anand Bhatt for further instructions, he asked him to hold on for a couple of days.