Thiruvananthapuram: Amidst outcry over the S-Band spectrum deal between ISRO's commercial arm Antrix Corporation and a private company, the space agency's former Chairman G Madhavan Nair on Sunday said a high-powered committee set up by the Centre was probing the issue.
"This matter is being inquired into by a high-powered committee. So I cannot make any remarks on that. But I am sure the department has been functioning as per the set rules and regulations of the time," Nair, who headed ISRO in 2005, said.
"Let the report of the high powered committee come. After that I shall comment," he told reporters on the sidelines of the 'Kerala Development Congress' a four-day seminar organised by the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Development Studies which began here on Saturday.
Asked about reports that all members of the Antrix Corporation were not present at the Board meeting which took the crucial decision, Nair said "I do not have any records on that. So, I cannot comment".
Antrix Corporation is in the eye of a storm over its controversial win-satellite 2005 deal with private firm Devas Multimedia.
On February 8, Nair had said ISRO had nothing to do with spectrum allocation. "Spectrum allocation is not our business. We build and operate satellites".
Antrix had signed the contract in January 2005 and had got sanction of the Space Commission and the Union Cabinet for the two satellites without informing them that bulk capacity will be leased to Devas Multimedia.
In December 2009, ISRO ordered a review of the deal and subsequently Space Commission recommended its annulment on July 2, 2010. The Commission had also suggested restructuring Antrix and a report on the matter had been submitted to ISRO subsequently.
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