New Delhi, January 28, 2012
File photo of Madhavan Nair
Former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman Madhavan Nair, who was recently barred from occupying any government position, has stepped down voluntarily from the post of chairman of Board of Governors of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT, Patna).
Nair and three other space officials were barred by the Department of Space from occupying any government position for their alleged role in the controversial January 2005 deal between Antrix Corporation, the commercial arm of the agency, and the private sector Devas Multimedia Pvt Ltd.
Apart from Nair, the others covered by the January 13 order are former ISRO Scientific Secretary A Bhaskarnarayana, former Antrix Managing Director K R Sridharamurthi and former ISRO Satellite Centre Director K N Shankara.
Nair flew down to Patna and personally informed his colleagues on the Board of Governors of IIT, Patna and senior faculty members of his decision to step down in the light of what had happened.
He told NetIndian over the telephone that IIT Patna was an institution very close to his heart because he had played a role in nurturing it for the past two years.
"The college is very close to my heart and it was my moral responsibility to give them the message," he said from his Bangalore residence on his return from Patna.
Nair also said that he still had not heard anything from the Government about its decision, which he felt was unjust.
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He said he had filed an application for the relevant papers under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, including the reports of the two high-powered committees on the basis of which the Government had taken the unprecedented step.
He said that he would decide on a further course of action only after perusing all those documents.
In the past few days since the Government's decision was reported by the media, Nair has hit out at his successor Radhakrishnan, accusing him of misleading the Prime Minister and others in the matter as part of a "personal agenda".
The contract between Antrix, the marketing arm of ISRO, and Devas, a private sector company, was signed during the tenure of Nair at the helm of the space agency. Nair was also behind India's maiden moon mission, Chandrayan-I. He is a recipient of the Padma Vibhushan, the nation's second highest civilian honour.
The Government's decision is based on the report of a high-powered committee (HPC) under former Central Vigilance Commissioner Pratyush Sinha that went into the deal as well as the report of a high-powered review committee headed by Planning Commission member B K Chaturvedi set up earlier.
Nair told television channels that none of the details regarding the reports of the committees had been put in the public domain. He said the Government should have communicated to them on what grounds the action against them was taken and they should have been given an opportunity to be heard. No such process had been followed, he said.
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He said it was very unfortunate that some of the country's foremost scientists, who had great credibility, had been treated in this manner. He said there clearly was an attempt to tarnish the image of the scientists.
Nair said Radhakrishnan, who was also on the Antrix board, had taken it upon himself to scrap the deal with Devas, though he had not raised any objections against it during discussions in the board.
He also said some of those in Devas had been senior to Radhakrishnan in ISRO at one time and he, perhaps, had some grudge against them. He also said that Radhakrishnan was probably trying to divert attention for lack of performance by ISRO after he took over by creating a "scandal" that did not exist.
He said the entire matter was unjustified and "totally absurd" and that the Government was being "misinformed and misled".
He said the correct thing to do would have been to give them a charge sheet and then hold an inquiry.
Nair said an internal and independent review ordered by Radhakrishnan had given a complete clean chit to the Devas deal.
The High-Powered Review Committee, headed by Chaturvedi had been asked to, inter-alia, review aspects of the agreement between Antrix and Devas and suggest correctives and responsibility for lapses, if any.
The committee had also been asked to suggest improvements and changes in processes and procedures followed by Antrix, ISRO and the Department of Space.
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The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) had on February 17, 2011, decided to annul forthwith the deal.
"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, para-military 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," then Law and Justice Minister M Veerappa Moily had told reporters on that day after the meeting of the CCS.
"In the light of this policy of not providing orbit slot in S Band to Antrix for commercial activities, the 'Agreement for the lease of space segment capacity on ISRO/Antrix S-Band spacecraft by Devas Multimedia Pvt. Ltd.' entered into between Antrix Corporation and Devas Multimedia Pvt. Ltd. on 28th January, 2005 shall be annulled forthwith," he had said.
ISRO has been facing allegations of causing huge losses to the Government by leasing space segment using S-band spectrum to the private firm at a very low price.
Devas had said at that time that it had proceeded with the project after required consents and approvals were obtained within Government of India, culminating with Space Commission and Union Cabinet, which were confirmed to it by Antrix in February 2006,
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It has also said that it had fulfilled all of its obligations in respect of the agreement over the past six years and had been awaiting the delivery of the contracted space segment capacity.
Devas also said it had secured appropriate approvals from the Government related to conducting its business. All foreign direct investment into Devas had also been with due Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approvals and in full compliance with government regulations, it said.
The company said it, its investors - Deutsche Telekom, Columbia Capital, Telcom Ventures - and its partners had invested significant time, capital and resources in developing an innovative, novel, integrated satellite system to serve the needs of the Indian consumers and government agencies, including for strategic applications.
It said it had developed technologies that are essential for the delivery of advanced services, including societal, strategic and commercial applications, through ISRO’s GSAT 6 and 6A satellites.
Devas has been promoted by a group of entrepreneurs, some of whom have worked with ISRO in senior positions in the past.
ISRO Chairman K Radharkishnan had told a press conference here on February 8 last year that the agency had decided in July 2010 to cancel the deal.
Radhakrishnan, who is also Chairman of the Space Commission and Secretary, Department of Space, had asserted that the deal had not caused any financial loss to the Government.
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He said the contract had been under review by ISRO since December 2009 and finally put up the matter before the Space Commission, which decided in July 2010 to terminate the contract.
Radhakrishnan, who had taken over as ISRO Chairman in November 2009 from Nair, said some important details about the contract, especially the fact that upto 90 per cent of the capacity of transponders on two satellites - GSAT 6 and GSAT 6A - would be reserved for the usage of Devas, were not explicitly shared with the Union Cabinet when sanction was sought and received for building and launching the satellites.
The ISRO chief said Devas, a company launched in 2004 by a team of entrepreneurs, including some former ISRO officials, had made a proposal for a new, novel digital broadcast service and Antrix had signed the contract with it after about a year of discussions.
He said this had happened at a time when many other users had migrated to the Ku band and ISRO was looking ways of using the S-band spectrum for new, novel applications.
ISRO had gone ahead and got government approval for the GSAT 6 and GSAT 6A satellites, but did not make it explicitly clear that their capacity would be predominantly used for the Devas project.
At the same time, in 2009, there arose an emerging strategic requirement in the country for spectrum for national agencies and ISRO decided to conduct a comprehensive review of the Antrix-Devas contract, Radhakrishnan had said at that time.
He said the Space Commission also took the view that the highest priority should be given to the country's strategic requirements and, therefore, decided to take action to annul the contract between Antrix and Devas. This would ensure that GSAT 6 and GSAT 6A would be available to meet the strategic requirements, he said.
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