2G scam: Govt to back Sibal in trashing CAG estimate

Even as the BJP and the Left parties reject telecom minister Kapil Sibal's criticism of the Comptroller and Auditor General's computation of revenue losses in allocation of 2G spectrum, the government intends to stick to its defence as formulated by Sibal.

With all signs that the opposition-government confrontation is set to sharpen, the government is not backing off from its recently articulated position that there was no revenue loss in the 2G allocations, according to a Times of India report. The CAG has tagged the presumptive loss at Rs1.76 lakh crore. Though attacking the auditor's findings can be risky given the pervasive perception that spectrum was sold cheap, the government is not backing off.

Sibal feels that it is for the BJP-led NDA, its predecessor in power at the centre, to answer the issues he has raised with regard to the 10th plan document stating that revenue should not be the sole consideration in devising policy.

On the propriety of his rubbishing the CAG's loss calculations when the PAC was studying the report, the minister's view is that the government could not be hobbled when it was being slammed by the opposition.

"The opposition is not holding back and waiting for the PAC to complete its deliberations," Sibal told the paper.

The government seems determined to take on the CAG's Rs1.76-crore loss estimate even if it means crossing swords with PAC chairman M M Joshi, though Sibal chose not to join issue with the BJP leader, who said the minister had not read the report.

The government intends to take its argument further by pointing out that the previous UPA government's policy actually benefited the common man and there was nothing amiss in the first-come, first-served policy itself; and that allocation of 2G spectrum at 2001 prices could not be a matter of contention as the 10th plan did not give primacy to revenue generation.

So far Congress has not criticised the minister's formulation. The party may, however, avoid openly disagreeing with the CAG in a blunt fashion. With the opposition indicating that it is not buying Sibal's argument that the pricing was incorrectly calculated by CAG and that revenue was not the central consideration in telecom policy, more sparks will fly.