G Madhavan Nair accuses Isro chief of fabricating charges

NEW DELHI: Former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation G Madhavan Nair stepped up his attack on his successor K Radhakrishan by charging him with fabricating reasons to suggest a scandal in the Antrix-Devas deal.

An agency report from Bangalore quoting Nair said the present Isro chief had misled the government by "forging charges" against those who were at the helm of the space organisation during the deal.

"A letter went from DoS to the higher-ups towards the end of 2009 or early 2010 (when Radhakrishnan was the chairman), seeking cancellation of the Antrix-Devas agreement. He had made up his mind to take action on something and later lined up all arguments in favour of such a decision. This is totally unheard of," Nair said.

On the deal, Nair said there was attempt to mix up spectrum vis-Ã -vis satellite transponder leasing. "These are two different issues. Isro deals with only leasing of transponders," he said.

Nair said Isro was supposed to give two transponders to Devas which was not unusual as Tata Sky has leased 12 (Isro) transponders from one satellite completely for their use. "Even if Isro gives transponders to an operator, the latter can't start operations such as uplinking, downlinking and beaming over the Indian continent till it receives licence from the Department of Telecom," Nair said.

Even in the late 2009, Devas was still trying to get DoT licence and no licence was granted.