New Delhi:
After the Supreme Court cancelled 122 telecom licenses issued by A Raja in 2008, the government has said that the verdict is not an indictment of either its governance or the Prime Minister and then Finance Minister P Chidambaram. Instead, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal argued that the first-come-first-serve policy used by Mr Raja has been faulted by the court, and for this, the BJP must apologise to the country.
"I repeat that the Prime Minister and then Finance Minister P Chidambaram are in no way responsible" for the scam, he asserted at a press conference this afternoon. "The Supreme Court has clearly said that the then minister (Raja) did not heed to the good advice of both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Finance Ministry," he added.
The BJP has said that the verdict today establishes the government's collective failure to check Mr Raja as he conspired to favour companies by gifting them out-of-turn licenses at throwaway prices with free spectrum built into the deal. The Supreme Court said that instead of a first-come-first-serve policy, an auction should have been held to ensure transparency and market rates. "This policy was decided upon by the NDA government, approved by its cabinet in 2003, and implemented by the NDA. It was followed by the UPA," said Mr Sibal.
As far as the policy is concerned, Supreme Court has found that it was discriminatory per se. This policy was initiated by the NDA government and was followed by the UPA regime.
As experts warned of today's verdict shaking foreign investor confidence, Mr Sibal said, "It's a happy day for investors" because the judgement establishes much-needed clarity on what policies the government should follow in the telecom sector.
The telecom regulator TRAI has been told by the court to develop new guidelines within four months for an auction of spectrum and licenses.