Antrix-Devas deal: 4 former ISRO officials barred from holding Govt jobs

NEW DELHI, JAN 25:
As a fallout of the controversial Antrix-Devas deal, the Government has barred former ISRO chief, Mr G. Madhavan Nair, and three other space scientists from holding any Government jobs.

The action comes in the wake of the controversial deal in which Bangalore-based Devas got into an exclusive deal with Antrix, which in effect gave the private firm control over a large chunk of valuable S-band spectrum. The deal was annulled after an expose by Business Line. The contract with Devas was signed during the tenure of Mr Nair as the Chairman of ISRO.

'Unfair decision'

Reacting to the Government’s move, Mr Nair said that the decision was unfair as he had not been given a hearing on the issue. The Prime Minister had on May 31, last year, constituted a five-member high-level team under the chairmanship of former Central Vigilance Commissioner, Mr Pratyush Sinha, to examine the aspects of the agreement between Antrix and Devas.

Business Line had a series of stories on this deal on how crucial information about the deal was withheld by the Department of Space.

Cabinet note

According to a note prepared for the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), the Department withheld from the Space Commission as well as the Government vital information that the two satellites, GSAT-6 and GSAT-6A, were being built for Devas.

“Though the GSAT-6 and GSAT-6A satellites were being built by ISRO to meet the requirements of PS-1 and PS-2 specified in the Antrix-Devas Agreement,” the note said, “the proposals from the Department for approval...did not reflect the conclusion of such an arrangement in January 2005 itself.”

While Antrix signed the agreement on January 28, 2005, it was not until July 2, 2010 — weeks after Business Line revealed the nature of the deal to build the two S-band satellites and lease capacity from them to Devas — that the Space Commission was briefed on the agreement.

“Taking note of the fact that Government policies with regard to allocation of spectrum have undergone a change in the last few years and there has been an increased demand for allocation of spectrum for national needs, including for the needs of defence, paramilitary forces, railways and other public utility services as well as for societal needs, and having regard to the needs of the country’s strategic requirements, the Government will not be able to provide orbit slot in S-band to Antrix for commercial activities, including for those which are the subject matter of existing contractual obligations for S-band,” the note added.

Keywords: Antrix-Devas deal, ex-ISRO chief, scientists, government jobs, S band spectrum allocation