New Delhi: A crucial meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probing the 2G spectrum scam is taking place today in the capital. The committee is questioning the government's top auditing body that came up with the loss figures.
The committee is examining the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, Vinod Rai. Former Director General of Audit, RP Singh, testified before the committee yesterday. The two had serious differences over the loss figures that have been mired in controversy.
During his testimony Mr Singh said that he sticks to the stand he has taken all along - that the losses from the scam cannot be quantified, and that he was asked to sign on a report that declared the losses to be worth 1.76 lakh crores. Mr Singh had told his department that the presumptive losses were in the range of 2600 crores.
The testimony of RP Singh will boost the case of the government, which has been battered heavily by the swindle; Mr Singh's remarks also undermine the criminal case that the CBI is trying to prove against former Telecom Minister A Raja and 13 others, who are on trial for the telecom scam.
The swindle rests on the premise that Mr Raja ignored advice to auction spectrum in 2008, and that he manipulated the rules to help some companies get out-of-turn licences. However, Mr Singh today referred to the fact that the both the Cabinet and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had not recommended that second-generation or 2G frequency be auctioned. TRAI recently referred to this fact and warned the CBI that any losses would be presumptive and prone to error.
The government reluctantly agreed to form the Joint Parliamentary Committee or JPC in February this year at the Opposition's insistence. The panel combines members from the ruling UPA and the Opposition; they are assigned to fix accountability for the scam. Asked whether he stuck to his earlier estimate of how much the scam cost India, Mr Singh told NDTV, "I stuck to my point."
In May 2010, Mr Singh, as then principal auditor and Director General of Post and Telecommunication, reviewed the accounts for the government based on the sale of licences and airwaves by Mr Raja in 2008. He said that "revenue optimisation" was not part of the original objectives of the audit.
Mr Singh's stand pits him against his former boss - the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India Vinod Rai. It was Mr Rai who in November held a press conference announcing that the 2G scam had cost India 1.76 lakh crores. The consequences were immediate and staggering. Mr Raja resigned, and was later arrested. The JPC was formed. And the CBI's investigation into the case came under closer scrutiny both in court and outside.
It has learnt that the final report, submitted by Mr Rai, was made available to Mr Singh for just 15 minutes.
In an internal note, dated October 20, 2010, the deputy CAG Rekha Gupta is said to have told a junior that the report "is to be put up by tomorrow evening positively... RP Singh has been asked to sign the last page..."
The note also shows that Mr Singh was not given a hard copy of the final report for his perusal but was called to Ms Gupta's office to sign it. Referring to Mr Singh, Ms Gupta, according to the note, reportedly said, "Let him read the final version here (meaning her own office) if he wants."
The JPC has asked Mr Rai and Mr Singh to depose separately after protests by UPA members. They say that given the fact that Mr Singh was allegedly over-ruled by his boss, he should be given the chance to express his version of events freely.
The committee is examining the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, Vinod Rai. Former Director General of Audit, RP Singh, testified before the committee yesterday. The two had serious differences over the loss figures that have been mired in controversy.
During his testimony Mr Singh said that he sticks to the stand he has taken all along - that the losses from the scam cannot be quantified, and that he was asked to sign on a report that declared the losses to be worth 1.76 lakh crores. Mr Singh had told his department that the presumptive losses were in the range of 2600 crores.
The testimony of RP Singh will boost the case of the government, which has been battered heavily by the swindle; Mr Singh's remarks also undermine the criminal case that the CBI is trying to prove against former Telecom Minister A Raja and 13 others, who are on trial for the telecom scam.
The swindle rests on the premise that Mr Raja ignored advice to auction spectrum in 2008, and that he manipulated the rules to help some companies get out-of-turn licences. However, Mr Singh today referred to the fact that the both the Cabinet and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had not recommended that second-generation or 2G frequency be auctioned. TRAI recently referred to this fact and warned the CBI that any losses would be presumptive and prone to error.
The government reluctantly agreed to form the Joint Parliamentary Committee or JPC in February this year at the Opposition's insistence. The panel combines members from the ruling UPA and the Opposition; they are assigned to fix accountability for the scam. Asked whether he stuck to his earlier estimate of how much the scam cost India, Mr Singh told NDTV, "I stuck to my point."
In May 2010, Mr Singh, as then principal auditor and Director General of Post and Telecommunication, reviewed the accounts for the government based on the sale of licences and airwaves by Mr Raja in 2008. He said that "revenue optimisation" was not part of the original objectives of the audit.
Mr Singh's stand pits him against his former boss - the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India Vinod Rai. It was Mr Rai who in November held a press conference announcing that the 2G scam had cost India 1.76 lakh crores. The consequences were immediate and staggering. Mr Raja resigned, and was later arrested. The JPC was formed. And the CBI's investigation into the case came under closer scrutiny both in court and outside.
It has learnt that the final report, submitted by Mr Rai, was made available to Mr Singh for just 15 minutes.
In an internal note, dated October 20, 2010, the deputy CAG Rekha Gupta is said to have told a junior that the report "is to be put up by tomorrow evening positively... RP Singh has been asked to sign the last page..."
The note also shows that Mr Singh was not given a hard copy of the final report for his perusal but was called to Ms Gupta's office to sign it. Referring to Mr Singh, Ms Gupta, according to the note, reportedly said, "Let him read the final version here (meaning her own office) if he wants."
The JPC has asked Mr Rai and Mr Singh to depose separately after protests by UPA members. They say that given the fact that Mr Singh was allegedly over-ruled by his boss, he should be given the chance to express his version of events freely.
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