Citizens' Accountability LedgerWho owned the mess? 25 years, every party, on the record

Case 13 · Public money

Antrix-Devas. Public spectrum leased quietly, then torn up expensively

Deal 2005; rescinded Feb 2011

Cancelled. India lost the arbitration.

5,658 days since Recorded outcome: Cancelled. India lost the arbitration..

Human cost
S-band spectrum, a scarce public asset, committed to a private firm without competitive process
Financial cost Est
Contract rescinded in 2011; India has since faced arbitration awards running to over a billion dollars plus interest

What happened

In 2005 Antrix, the commercial arm of ISRO, agreed to lease 70 MHz of S-band satellite spectrum to Devas Multimedia. A CAG review found the agreement had been made without competitive process and promoted a private interest at public cost. The government rescinded the contract in February 2011.

Claim against record

What the government said

The government said it cancelled the contract on grounds of national security and strategic need for the spectrum, and has argued in every forum that the deal was fraudulent from the start.

What the record shows

Cancelled. India lost the arbitration.

Cancelling the contract did not settle anything: international arbitral tribunals repeatedly found against India, leaving the taxpayer facing awards larger than anything the original deal was worth. No official was held responsible either for signing an agreement that should not have been signed, or for cancelling it in a way that cost more than it saved.

Contested / alleged

Fraud in the original deal is the government's own contention, accepted by Indian courts and rejected by several arbitral tribunals. The two findings have not been reconciled.

What accountability should have looked like

Competitive allocation of the spectrum in 2005, and a cancellation route chosen with the arbitration exposure calculated first.

Ministers and office-holders responsible

Naming who held the portfolio is a matter of public record. It is not by itself a finding of personal responsibility for any death or any rupee.

Sources

T1 primary record · T2 reporting · T3 partisan

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Cite or export this case

Citizens' Accountability Ledger, "Antrix-Devas. Public spectrum leased quietly, then torn up expensively" (Deal 2005; rescinded Feb 2011), case-78. https://whoisresponsible.xyz/case/case-78/

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