CBI summons Arun Shourie in 2G scam case

NEW DELHI - The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Sunday summoned Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Telecom Minister Arun Shourie, in connection with its probe into the 2G spectrum scam.

Shourie, who was the Telecom Minister from January 2003 till May 2004 during the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) regime, will appear before the investigating agency on February 21.

Earlier on February 8, Shourie dismissed the Justice Patil Report on the 2G-spectrum scam, terming it ‘fabrication’ concocted by Union Communication and Information Technology Minister Kapil Sibal in defence of A. Raja.

“What is one to do? Such a report brings the judiciary into disrepute. I know that this is a serious statement but such a fabrication brings the judiciary into disrespect,” said Shourie.

Further criticizing the procedure under which a one man committee was constituted, Shourie said: “This is an unheard of procedure where you handpick a judge and he decides not to examine anybody and he decides to go by documents only handed over to him by a department lead by an advocate like Kapil Sibal who is fabricating the case in Raja’s defence.”

The Justice Patil Committee was appointed in December to look into whether officials in the Telecom Ministry had violated government procedures and guidelines for allocating spectrum since 1991.

Sibal quoting from the Justice Patil Report, on February 4 said all decisions on the allocation of 2G spectrum starting from 2003 were incorrect, and added that the first-come-first-serve policy was introduced by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government and went against the decision of the cabinet at that time.

Sibal said Raja had not deviated from previous policies, which in itself were wrong.

Sibal said the findings on procedural lapses have been sent to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for accessing the criminal culpability in the scam.

Sibal said the committee found that original spectrum allocation was ‘bad’ and procedures were not followed both by the NDA government till 2004 and the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government up to 2008.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), in its first information report, had mentioned the loss as Rs.22, 000 crore based on findings of the Central Vigilance Commission.

Raja was forced to resign from the Union Cabinet last year after the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) faulted him for undervaluing spectrum to favour companies who were largely ineligible for 2G spectrum, and added that the government had probably lost Rs.1.76 lakh crore in estimated revenue. (ANI)