New Delhi:
Former Telecom Minister Arun Shourie has dismissed the recent report on spectrum allocation, prepared by Justice Shivraj Patil, as a "fabrication by Kapil Sibal."
Justice Patil's report was used by Mr Sibal, the Telecom Minister, to pass the buck to the Opposition for the massive 2G scam. "Mr Sibal functions as an advocate of A Raja," said Mr Shourie in Mumbai.
Justice Patil was appointed in December to scrutinise the Department of Telecom after the 2G scam turned into a political tsunami for the union government. The details of the scam caused the exit of A Raja as the UPA's Telecom Minister. Mr Sibal replaced him.
The 2G scam centres on the fact that in 2008, Mr Raja allegedly gave valuable frequency at throwaway prices to companies that he favoured.
The Patil Report, quoted extensively by Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal, said that there has been no transparent decision in the allocation of spectrum since 2003. It blamed the NDA government , which Mr Shourie was a part of, for introducing faulty policies, including the first-come-first-served principle for companies who applied for spectrum. Mr Shourie says there was nothing wrong with the actual principle and that the mistake lay in the fact that Mr Raja did not in fact follow any principle. "He changed the priority list, he advanced the cut-off date" to help companies, said Mr Shourie, explaining some of the irregularities indulged in by Mr Raja.