Ambani less candid than Tata before 2G scam probe

Industrialist Anil Ambani was not as "candid" as fellow billionaire Ratan Tata when he was interviewed by a parliamentary committee investigating the alleged improper allegations of 2G telecommunications licenses yesterday, according to a leading financial news web site.

Ambani pleaded that since the name of his company and some key officials figure in the chargesheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation on the alleged scam, he would not like to say anything which could be used against him in court, reported web portal domain-b.com.

The Public Accounts Committee of Parliament on Tuesday quizzed Reliance ADAG chairman Anil Ambani about his company's stake in Swan Telecom, which received a 2G license but never rolled out services, according to the Economic Times. 

Ambani was asked if Swan was a front company for Reliance and why he had invested more than $200 million through redeemable preference shares in that company. Ambani answered that he had got his money back. The members then asked why he invested in the company in the first place if it was not a front company. Ambani replied that it was prudent to invest because the new company was sharing "my tower, my cables and my infrastructure," the Economic Times said.

On being repeatedly asked to explain his investment in Swan, Ambani said he needed 24 hours to come back with some details after consulting documents.

At one point during the session, unsatisfied with a response by Ambani, the committee chairman said the billionaire appeared to suffer from "selective forgetfulness", at which all the members, and Ambani, laughed, the paper said.  

Elsewhere: The Indian Express reports that Ambani told the committee that the "first come, first served" policy that former telecom minister A. Raja followed (he's now under arrest) was correct under the circumstances, because their weren't enough players for an auction like the one used to sell 3G spectrum.

The same standard applies in the queue for the house bathroom…. Reportedly, during the break one of the senior political leaders noticed that Ambani was headed for the toilets and stood back to let the billionaire jump ahead. But Ambani was having none of it. He shook his head and said, "First come, first served."