FM Sitharaman says UPA govt committed fraud against country through Devas-Antrix pact

Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday blamed the Congress-led UPA government for committing a fraud on the people of India and country through the 2005 agreement signed between Devas Multimedia and Antrix, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

Devas is fighting multiple cases in courts in different countries to enforce a $1.3 billion arbitration award over the cancellation of the agreement with Antrix. 

Sitharaman, during a press conference, accused the UPA government of giving away the rare S-band spectrum, primarily used by armed forces, at a pittance to a private party.

She also said that the Narendra Modi government will fight the case in all the courts so that Devas does not get away with this fraud.

The finance minister said that the UPA government decided to call off the pact in 2011 because it was a clear case of fraud and even a minister of the government was arrested for it. She said that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) are also probing the case.

She said that the even the Union Cabinet didn't know of the pact when it was signed, Under the agreement, 90 per cent of the yet to be launched satellites were given away to private entities, Sitharaman said.

(More details to follow)