Antrix-Devas deal signed during Congress regime was 'fraud', says Nirmala Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said the satellite deal between ISRO's commercial arm Antrix and Devas Multimedia signed in 2005 under the Congress-party led government was a fraud and has caused huge damage to the exchequer.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said the satellite deal between ISRO's commercial arm Antrix and Devas Multimedia signed in 2005 under the Congress-party led government was a fraud and has caused huge damage to the exchequer. "This was a fraud. This came out clearly in the Supreme Court of India's judgement," Sitharaman said addressing a press conference a day after the Supreme Court of India ordered winding up of Devas Multimedia.

Sitharaman accused Congress-party led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government for allowing the fraudulent deal and letting it linger for so many years. "In 2011, when the whole thing was cancelled, Devas went to international arbitration, the Government of India never appointed an arbitrator, was reminded to appoint arbitrator within 21 days, but the Government didn't appoint," she said.

"The Supreme Court order shows how the UPA government indulged in wrong practices. Antrix-Devas deal was against national security. It should be Congress party's turn to tell how this kind of fraud was perpetrated on people of India," she added.