PC: PAC report is distortion of facts
Home minister P. Chidambaram on Friday sharply attacked PAC chairman Murli Manohar Joshi by saying that the draft report prepared by Mr Joshi on his role in the 2G spectrum allocation was a “gross distortion” which “deliberately and mischievously” omitted his suggestions on the issue.
Mr Chidambaram clarified that the note he wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on January 2008 did not deal with the ‘’entry fee’’ for 2G spectrum allocation but only usage charges and even a “person with average intelligence would have noticed that”.
“Mr M.M. Joshi’s draft report was a gross distortion of the note dated 15-01-2008 and mischievously commented I had ‘pleaded with the Prime Minister to treat the matter as closed’. The draft report did not say what the ‘matter’ was. The draft report also deliberately and mischievously omitted the suggestion regarding charging the licencees prospectively. I am constrained to observe once again that even a person with average intelligence would have noticed that the note did not deal with entry fee at all; in fact, it did say so,” the home minister said in a statement.
Asked at a press conference whether he was pointing towards Mr Joshi as a person of average intelligence, he replied with a tinge of sarcasm that he was referring to himself. “I did not say that. I am talking about persons like me with average intelligence will know. I was referring to myself,” Mr Chidambaram said.
Asked to respond about BJP leader Yashwant Sinha’s accusation of his “direct complicity” in the 2G controversy, he said, “Why should I respond.”
The home minister said that his note did not deal with the need, if any, to revise the entry fee or the rate of revenue share. It dealt with spectrum charges for 2G spectrum. He maintained that his note dealt with spectrum usage charges alone and suggested three measures for raising revenues.
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