Congress distances from Sibal’s remarks after court rebuke
By IANSFriday, January 21, 2011
NEW DELHI - After the apex court rebuke of Kapil Sibal, the Congress Friday sought to distance itself from the remarks of the communications minister on the national auditor’s 2G spectrum scam report.
Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that questions about the minister’s remarks should be put to him.
“As far as the Supreme Court observation is concerned, these are on-going proceedings. It will be unfair for the party to react in such a matter. You must ask and consult the concerned minister,” Singhvi said responding to queries.
The Supreme Court Friday pulled up Sibal for his comments on the CAG report on the 2G controversy. He had described the report as “utterly erroneous” in its calculation of presumptive loss in the 2G spectrum allocation.
The Congress had earlier backed Sibal over his remarks.
Asked about Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman Murli Manohar Joshi writing to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar requesting her to ensure that the authority of PAC and CAG is not impinged upon by ministers, Singhvi said that the party will give its views if sought by the presiding officer.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said that Sibal was not discharging the role of a minister but of a lawyer of the government in a case of huge corruption and this was not acceptable.
Reacting to Sibal’s remarks, BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said that Sibal was playing the role of a lawyer and not of a minister.
“It seems he is pleading for the government in a case of huge corruption, which is not acceptable,” he said.
