New Delhi: The price tag of 1.76 lakh crores placed on the telecom scam by the government's auditors is what gave the swindle superstar status. Whether that estimate was correct is now being debated by two parliamentary committees. The man who actually conducted the audit - R P Singh - has said that in his opinion, the scam cost a more modest 2600 crores, but his boss, Vinod Rai, over-ruled him. In November 2010, Mr Rai submitted his report to Parliament, declaring that the telecom scam was worth 1.76 lakh crores, making it the country's biggest con-job to date.
The telecom scam is being studied by the Parliamentary Accounts Committee (PAC) which is headed by BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi. A letter dated July 13, 2010 states that when the auditors were working on their report, Mr Joshi called the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG). The letter is written by R B Sinha, a senior CAG official and is addressed to Rekha Gupta, the Deputy CAG. Mr Sinha writes that he attended to Mr Joshi's call. The BJP leader reportedly told him that he was concerned about the progress of the report, and was worried that if it was delayed, a cover-up would be engineered. Mr Joshi reportedly urged Mr Sinha to try and present the audit report in the Monsoon Session of Parliament. Mr Sinha recalls the BJP leader saying, "There was tremendous pressure on him from Parliamentarians, media etc. about the examination being done by the Public Accounts Committee in respect of recent development in Telecom sector, including allocation of 2G and 3G spectrum and that if the probe is further delayed, the Executive would get the time to cover up the issue."
Senior CAG officials including Mr Rai and Ms Gupta have signed off on the letter.
Congress leader Digvijaya Singh has accused Mr Joshi of trying to influence the auditors, "Is it a fact Chairman PAC contacted CAG regarding 2G before submission of CAG report? It was denied by CAG but now documents prove he did," Mr Singh tweeted this morning.
Mr Rai deposed before the Joint Parliamentary Committee today and told reporters later that Mr Joshi's phone call could not be seen as an attempt to impact the auditors.
Mr Rai also had other awkward questions to address with the committee. Mr Singh, who testified yesterday, said that he stands by his original estimate - of losses worth 2600 crores. So Mr Rai had to explain to committee members - particularly those from the government - why he over-ruled Mr Singh, who in fact conducted the audit. Mr Singh had also alleged that he was given little time to review the final report, and was pressured to sign it.
Mr Singh's testimony will undermine the Central Bureau of Investigation's criminal case against A Raja and 13 others, who are on trial for the scam. The case against Mr Raja is that he ignored advice to auction spectrum and manipulated the rules to help some companies get out-of-turn licences. But Mr Singh told the JPC that neither the cabinet nor the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had recommended that 2G frequency be auctioned.
TRAI had taken a similar line in its response to the CBI, maintaining that putting a figure to any losses would be presumptive and prone to error.
CAG conducted its audit of the telecom scam between January and September 2010, covering the period 2003-04 to 2009-10. It looked at the "implementation of policy" and the procedure used to allocate the 2G spectrum under the Unified Access Services (UAS). It also looked at whether the "potential for revenue generation to government was optimally managed."
The telecom scam is being studied by the Parliamentary Accounts Committee (PAC) which is headed by BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi. A letter dated July 13, 2010 states that when the auditors were working on their report, Mr Joshi called the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG). The letter is written by R B Sinha, a senior CAG official and is addressed to Rekha Gupta, the Deputy CAG. Mr Sinha writes that he attended to Mr Joshi's call. The BJP leader reportedly told him that he was concerned about the progress of the report, and was worried that if it was delayed, a cover-up would be engineered. Mr Joshi reportedly urged Mr Sinha to try and present the audit report in the Monsoon Session of Parliament. Mr Sinha recalls the BJP leader saying, "There was tremendous pressure on him from Parliamentarians, media etc. about the examination being done by the Public Accounts Committee in respect of recent development in Telecom sector, including allocation of 2G and 3G spectrum and that if the probe is further delayed, the Executive would get the time to cover up the issue."
Senior CAG officials including Mr Rai and Ms Gupta have signed off on the letter.
Congress leader Digvijaya Singh has accused Mr Joshi of trying to influence the auditors, "Is it a fact Chairman PAC contacted CAG regarding 2G before submission of CAG report? It was denied by CAG but now documents prove he did," Mr Singh tweeted this morning.
Mr Rai deposed before the Joint Parliamentary Committee today and told reporters later that Mr Joshi's phone call could not be seen as an attempt to impact the auditors.
Mr Rai also had other awkward questions to address with the committee. Mr Singh, who testified yesterday, said that he stands by his original estimate - of losses worth 2600 crores. So Mr Rai had to explain to committee members - particularly those from the government - why he over-ruled Mr Singh, who in fact conducted the audit. Mr Singh had also alleged that he was given little time to review the final report, and was pressured to sign it.
Mr Singh's testimony will undermine the Central Bureau of Investigation's criminal case against A Raja and 13 others, who are on trial for the scam. The case against Mr Raja is that he ignored advice to auction spectrum and manipulated the rules to help some companies get out-of-turn licences. But Mr Singh told the JPC that neither the cabinet nor the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had recommended that 2G frequency be auctioned.
TRAI had taken a similar line in its response to the CBI, maintaining that putting a figure to any losses would be presumptive and prone to error.
CAG conducted its audit of the telecom scam between January and September 2010, covering the period 2003-04 to 2009-10. It looked at the "implementation of policy" and the procedure used to allocate the 2G spectrum under the Unified Access Services (UAS). It also looked at whether the "potential for revenue generation to government was optimally managed."
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