New Delhi:
Arun Shourie, who served as Telecom Minister in the NDA government, appeared before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today in connection with India's largest scam, the 2G spectrum case.
Mr Shourie, who was Telecom Minister from January 2003 to May 2004, submitted a 50-page document to the CBI that details his account of the swindle.
Estimated by the government's auditor to have cost India up to Rs. 1.76 lakh crores, the scam cost A Raja his job as Telecom Minister and then forced him into jail. Mr. Raja is a leader of the DMK, which is a critical member of the Union Government, and is in partnership with the Congress in Tamil Nadu.
The scam has been used by the Opposition to launch a fierce attack against the government over corruption within its ranks. Mr. Raja chose to give spectrum to companies in 2008 at throwaway prices. The scam relates to whether Mr Raja should have auctioned the spectrum. On paper, he chose to follow instead a first-come-first-serve policy that had been introduced during the NDA regime. But in practice, the policy was tweaked and the deadline was brought forward unexpectedly to benefit companies who were allegedly paying Mr Raja handsomely for favouring them.
After spending three hours with the CBI, Mr Shourie advised Mr Raja to turn approver. He also said that that the real culprit for the 2G scam was Dayanandihi Maran, who was the UPA's Telecom Minister till Mr Raja took over.
Mr Shourie also said that the government keeps referring to the first-come-first-serve telecom policy as a "red herring." He also said, "The issue is that A Raja made money irrespective of whether it was a first-come-first-serve policy or not. That is why he was shown the door. He was put in jail... the issue is money being made in allocation of spectrum. Even more important was his (Raja's) supervisors did not take action. They were sleeping. This is the issue."
In Parliament yesterday, the Prime Minister followed the same line of defence as Mr. Raja and the DMK, offering that the first-come-first serve policy followed by Mr. Raja instead of an auction for license was important to ensure "a level playing field." The PM said that the policy in itself was not problematic, but its implementation may have been faulty. He also stressed that this policy was introduced by the NDA government that preceded his.
Like Mr. Raja, the PM said that the low prices of spectrum had helped to give India millions of cell phone users.
Under relentless pressure from the Opposition, the government has sanctioned a Joint Parliamentary Committee to study the 2G scam, along with telecom policies followed by the NDA and then the UPA from 1998 to 2009. The 30-member committee which includes representatives of various parties will present its findings before the monsoon session of Parliament concludes.
In addition to the CBI inquiry into the 2G scam, the government appointed Justice Shivraj Patil to examine telecom policies followed from 2001-2009. Justice Patil found that telecom policies were manipulated by bureaucrats in Mr Shourie's ministry. Justice Patil says Vinod Vaish, who was the Telecom Secretary during Mr Shourie's term, colluded with Pradeep Baijal, who headed the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to undermine decisions taken by the Cabinet at that time on how to handle spectrum allocation.
Mr Shourie dismissed Justice Patil's report as a case of "signature for hire" suggesting that the retired judge presented the government with a report that helped it to make the case that the roots of the telecom scam were planted during the NDA government.
Justice Patil states that the policies implemented during Mr Shourie's tenure as Telecom Minister presented undue benefits to Tata Teleservices. The CBI interrogated Anil Sardana, the company's top man today.
The Supreme Court has ordered the CBI to complete its questioning of all corporates linked to the 2G scam by March 31.
Mr Shourie, who was Telecom Minister from January 2003 to May 2004, submitted a 50-page document to the CBI that details his account of the swindle.
Estimated by the government's auditor to have cost India up to Rs. 1.76 lakh crores, the scam cost A Raja his job as Telecom Minister and then forced him into jail. Mr. Raja is a leader of the DMK, which is a critical member of the Union Government, and is in partnership with the Congress in Tamil Nadu.
The scam has been used by the Opposition to launch a fierce attack against the government over corruption within its ranks. Mr. Raja chose to give spectrum to companies in 2008 at throwaway prices. The scam relates to whether Mr Raja should have auctioned the spectrum. On paper, he chose to follow instead a first-come-first-serve policy that had been introduced during the NDA regime. But in practice, the policy was tweaked and the deadline was brought forward unexpectedly to benefit companies who were allegedly paying Mr Raja handsomely for favouring them.
After spending three hours with the CBI, Mr Shourie advised Mr Raja to turn approver. He also said that that the real culprit for the 2G scam was Dayanandihi Maran, who was the UPA's Telecom Minister till Mr Raja took over.
Mr Shourie also said that the government keeps referring to the first-come-first-serve telecom policy as a "red herring." He also said, "The issue is that A Raja made money irrespective of whether it was a first-come-first-serve policy or not. That is why he was shown the door. He was put in jail... the issue is money being made in allocation of spectrum. Even more important was his (Raja's) supervisors did not take action. They were sleeping. This is the issue."
In Parliament yesterday, the Prime Minister followed the same line of defence as Mr. Raja and the DMK, offering that the first-come-first serve policy followed by Mr. Raja instead of an auction for license was important to ensure "a level playing field." The PM said that the policy in itself was not problematic, but its implementation may have been faulty. He also stressed that this policy was introduced by the NDA government that preceded his.
Like Mr. Raja, the PM said that the low prices of spectrum had helped to give India millions of cell phone users.
Under relentless pressure from the Opposition, the government has sanctioned a Joint Parliamentary Committee to study the 2G scam, along with telecom policies followed by the NDA and then the UPA from 1998 to 2009. The 30-member committee which includes representatives of various parties will present its findings before the monsoon session of Parliament concludes.
In addition to the CBI inquiry into the 2G scam, the government appointed Justice Shivraj Patil to examine telecom policies followed from 2001-2009. Justice Patil found that telecom policies were manipulated by bureaucrats in Mr Shourie's ministry. Justice Patil says Vinod Vaish, who was the Telecom Secretary during Mr Shourie's term, colluded with Pradeep Baijal, who headed the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to undermine decisions taken by the Cabinet at that time on how to handle spectrum allocation.
Mr Shourie dismissed Justice Patil's report as a case of "signature for hire" suggesting that the retired judge presented the government with a report that helped it to make the case that the roots of the telecom scam were planted during the NDA government.
Justice Patil states that the policies implemented during Mr Shourie's tenure as Telecom Minister presented undue benefits to Tata Teleservices. The CBI interrogated Anil Sardana, the company's top man today.
The Supreme Court has ordered the CBI to complete its questioning of all corporates linked to the 2G scam by March 31.
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