BJP today alleged there was a possibility that the recent flopped spectrum sale was “deliberately manipulated” to show that the CAG’s calculation of presumptive loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the exchequer was erroneous and demanded a probe in this regard.
“There is a possibility that this auction has been deliberately manipulated,” senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi told a press conference here.
Expressing surprise at “important telecom players not participating”, the former BJP president demanded an investigation into the entire process of bidding.
“The central government is now attacking the CAG, the supreme auditor of the country, and their main argument is regarding its report on 2G spectrum which was also discussed by the Public Accounts Committee,” he said.
The government, which had set a reserve price of Rs 14,000 crore for pan-India spectrum on the basis of CAG’s assumption of Rs 1.76 lakh crore loss caused to the exchequer in the previous sale in 2008, managed a meagre Rs 9,407.64 crore in the auction held last week.
“Now that the auction did not give expected results, the government is claiming the CAG was wrong,” the former BJP president said.
Saying that “no CAG can be criticised,” the senior BJP leader pointed out, “If you find that the CAG is doing something mala fide, then impeach him. You cannot criticise the CAG in public or in Parliament, you can only impeach.”
“I want to challenge the government to impeach the CAG if it has anything against him,” he said.
“All ministers who criticised the CAG owe an apology,” Joshi asserted.
Keywords: recent flopped spectrum sale, BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi, CAG, Public Accounts Committee, 2G spectrum
Comments:
It is unfortunate that country's watchdog - CAG is being put to criticism from the Ministries for the latest auction flop.As opined by BJP, it seems Govt ensured flop of spectrum sale to show to public that CAG has erred in calculation of loss caused to the excequer. When important players in telecocm sector didn't participate, the logical conclusion would be that the auction process ends in a fiasco.The Government wants to go for second round of auction to further strengthen its stand and ultimately prove that CAG is wrong and allotment done earlier was correct. Those who were convicted earlier will come out with flying colours and the entire exercise will become a mockery. Excellent. Hats off to Govt.
CAG is the constitutional authority and it should have full powers to
look into all aspects of government transactions. Any proposal to
reduce operational freedom of this authority or weaken its powers must
be straight away rejected. Any change in provisions relating to
appointment of this authority must be widely debated before they are
considered by the Parliament.
As regards spectrum pricing, we may not agree with estimated loss
figures calculated by CAG but that does not mean that CAG has made any
serious errors. Actually, CAG has explained the method of calculation
of loss and if presumptions do not hold good, naturally, loss figures
would change.
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