Delhi:
The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) will today continue the cross-examination of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai on the estimate of losses in the 2G spectrum allocation.
During a session yesterday, Mr Rai had faced intense questioning from the panel's members, particularly Congress MP Manish Tewari, on the different loss estimates ranging from Rs 57,000 crore to Rs 1.76 lakh crore.
Mr Tewari's questions to Mr Rai were believed to have focused on the methodology used for calculating these figures. Mr Rai was asked whether there was any single figure of loss estimates on which there was unanimity among all the auditors in the CAG.
Mr Tewari pointed out that two auditors, R P Singh and Subbu R, did not agree with the CAG using the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) attracted by the licencees to assess the losses in spectrum allocation.
The Congress MP also sought to know how the CAG had taken into consideration the bids made by Chennai-based telecom operator S-Tel while calculating the losses as the firm's offer was cancelled by the government.
The CAG has reportedly taken the stand that such questioning is unfair. At one time during yesterday's hour-long meeting, BJP member Ravishankar Prasad is understood to have objected to the manner in which Mr Tewari was putting questions to "a senior official like the CAG".
Former Director General Audit R P Singh, who appeared before the JPC on November 14, had maintained that the actual loss was in the region of Rs 2,600 crore and that estimates like the Rs 1.76 lakh crore figure were the equivalent of a "mathematical guess". Mr Rai, who testified a day later, stood by this figure. Recording of Mr Rai's evidence by the JPC could not be completed on that day as almost every member had questions for him.
During a session yesterday, Mr Rai had faced intense questioning from the panel's members, particularly Congress MP Manish Tewari, on the different loss estimates ranging from Rs 57,000 crore to Rs 1.76 lakh crore.
Mr Tewari's questions to Mr Rai were believed to have focused on the methodology used for calculating these figures. Mr Rai was asked whether there was any single figure of loss estimates on which there was unanimity among all the auditors in the CAG.
Mr Tewari pointed out that two auditors, R P Singh and Subbu R, did not agree with the CAG using the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) attracted by the licencees to assess the losses in spectrum allocation.
The Congress MP also sought to know how the CAG had taken into consideration the bids made by Chennai-based telecom operator S-Tel while calculating the losses as the firm's offer was cancelled by the government.
The CAG has reportedly taken the stand that such questioning is unfair. At one time during yesterday's hour-long meeting, BJP member Ravishankar Prasad is understood to have objected to the manner in which Mr Tewari was putting questions to "a senior official like the CAG".
Former Director General Audit R P Singh, who appeared before the JPC on November 14, had maintained that the actual loss was in the region of Rs 2,600 crore and that estimates like the Rs 1.76 lakh crore figure were the equivalent of a "mathematical guess". Mr Rai, who testified a day later, stood by this figure. Recording of Mr Rai's evidence by the JPC could not be completed on that day as almost every member had questions for him.
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