Telecom department files affidavit in Supreme Court, defends Raja

New Delhi: The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court defending 2G allotment made by Telecom Minister, A Raja. It says the government has suffered no losses on account of the 2g spectrum allocation in January 2008. The CAG in its report has claimed that the losses from that sepctrum allocation could be as high as Rs 1.76 lakh crore. (Read: CAG report indicts Raja)


The DoT in its affidavit says :

• Not to auction the 2G Spectrum was done to increase the tele-density rather than to maximize their revenue
• This decision was in accordance with 10th & 11th 5-year plan, and it was done as per TRAI reccommendation, which said entry fee for the operator should be kept at a minimum
• Call charges came down drastically- India has the lowest call charges and revenue has increased because of this
• The allegations of loss of Rs 1.4 lakh crore (by CAG) is misconceived
• The revenue loss is calculated on the basis of amount allegedly received by some operators for selling the spectrum and the amount received by Government on the sale of the 3G spectrum
• While drawing the distinction between 2G & 3G DoT affidavit says 2G is a basic service, whereas 3G is value-added premium service and that's why it was auctioned.
• The government complied with all terms and  conditions and there were no violations.
• The DoT acted in public interest and  on the polices of the government.    

On the of the cut-off date for receiving the applications being moved forward, the DOT says 25/9/2007 (the preponed date) was only for processing the applications, and those received  up to 1/10/2007 were not rejected but were being considered

The Supreme Court is hearing a public interest litigation on the matter and the next hearing is scheduled for  Monday. The DOT says allegations made in the petition are with ulterior motive.

CAG slams Raja

Slamming A Raja, the CAG report says, "The Honourable Minister of Communication & IT, for no apparent logical or valid reasons, ignored the advice of Ministry of Law and Ministry of Finance, avoided the deliberations of the Telecom Commission to allocate 2G spectrum, a scarce finite national asset at less than its true value on flexible criteria and procedures adopted to benefit a few operators."

In its severe indictment, the CAG report says:

    * The Department of Telecom did not follow its own guidelines on eligibility conditions.
    * It arbitrarily changed the cut-off date for applications after the original cut-off date.
    * It altered conditions of the First Come First Served procedure
    * It gave unfair advantage to certain companies over others.
    * It created an environment not "transparent and fair."
    * It issued new licences for 2G spectrum at 2001 prices in 2008.
    * It flouted all rules, procedures to be followed in a parliamentary democratic set-up.