2G scam: SBI denies report of CBI search
12 Jan 2011
State Bank of India, the country's top lender, today denied a TV report the Central Bureau of Investigation was searching its offices in a case related to the allocation of 2G telecom spectrum and licence allocations.
ET NOW television channel had said the CBI was conducting searches in some offices of the SBI and other banks as part of the 2G probe.
"Let me say that this comes as a total surprise to me and nobody has told me (about this)," SBI chairman O P Bhatt told reporters in New Delhi when asked about the TV report.
The CBI is not conducting searches at any bank related to the telecoms probe, two sources at the investigative agency told Reuters.
"We have checked with our officers in different cities and there is nothing like this happening," one of the sources said, referring to the television report.
The telecoms scandal has deadlocked politics in Asia's third largest economy after a state auditor estimated India may have lost $39 billion in revenue due to improprieties during the grant of licences.
The telecom ministry has said the process was likely flawed but rejected the loss estimate.
