CPM criticises on Sibal's 2G remark
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New Delhi: Indicating that the UPA government was 'far more deeply involved' in the 2G spectrum allocation scam, CPI(M) today said Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal's statement on the issue was 'clearly meant to protect the ill-gotten gains' made by corporates who got the licenses at throwaway prices.
"It is clear from Sibal's defence that the UPA Government is far more deeply involved than just the lone acts of (former Telecom Minister) A Raja," the CPI(M) Politburo said, adding his "bizarre defence" of the 2G spectrum allocation once again underlined the need for a Joint Parliamentary Committee to investigate the issue.
Sibal's statement was 'clearly meant to protect the ill-gotten gains that corporate houses have made by securing 2G license and spectrum at throw-away prices. This is the reason why Sibal is attacking the CAG report.' In a statement, the major Left party said that with Sibal's statement, the Congress-led government has 'lost all credibility that it can carry out any impartial probe in this issue' and, therefore, a JPC was required.
"The Minister by his unprecedented attack on the Comptroller and Auditor General is trying to undermine the various inquiries that are presently on and influence official agencies. This is totally unacceptable," the party said.
It noted that in Sibal's view, CAG used 2010 prices of 3G for 2008, where the subscriber base and the price of the rupee is different. "Strangely enough, he does not – by the same logic - see any problem of using 2001 prices for licenses when there were only 4 million subscribers, in 2008 when the subscriber base was 300 million! "For the Minister's information, not only CAG, but also TRAI has suggested using 3G prices (Section 3.82, dated 11th May 2010) for benchmarking 2G spectrum and has also given technical reasons why this can be done," the CPI(M) said. It said Sibal has "discovered rather late" that the NDA's 1999 policy of shifting from fixed license fees to revenue sharing had led to losses to the exchequer.
"It appears only as a defence of the current 2G scam." The party said it was the Left that had questioned successive scams in the telecom sector – from Sukhram and his infamous case by case approach to NDA shifting to revenue sharing in 1999 and now the 2G scam. "Sibal must realise that earlier scams under the Congress or the NDA cannot be used to justify the current 2G scam," the party said, adding that the Left has not only raised the question of culpability of those whose acts have led to the huge loss to the exchequer but "recovering this loss from those corporate houses who have benefited from Raja's 2G largesse."
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