JOIN US2G case for SC, not Prez, says Montek
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia has totally opposed the move for making a Presidential Reference in the 2G case and instead feels the government should implement the Supreme Court order cancelling the spectrum licences and completing the auction in good faith.
He has also suggested that a group of ministers can be constituted to consider complex issues like pricing of spectrum, which may consider options put out by the Telecom Ministry and then make recommendations to the government.
A fortnight ago, the Union Cabinet discussed the possibility of making a Presidential Reference to the Supreme Court on its 2G judgment especially on issues like auction of scarce natural resources and the first come, first serve method.
It deferred a decision on the ground that the solicitor general can be called to give his views on the complex issues. The government has, however, filed a review petition on the court judgment delivered in first week of February.
“There is nothing to be gained by making a Presidential reference on the lines of the draft. If a reference has to be made, it must clearly state that the government’s position on key issues but I do not know if that would be appropriate,” Ahluwalia said in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recently.
He said if the government itself was unclear about some aspects of policy like pricing of spectrum then it should first clarify its position and added that Telecom Commission comprising officials was not the right forum to use for evolving solutions to these complex and possibly controversial decisions.
On balance, Ahluwalia said the best course of action may be to implement the order of the court cancelling the licenses and complete the auction in good.
Fresh LRs to Virgin Islands
Investigators probing the alleged financial irregularities in the 2G spectrum scam will send supplementary Letters Rogatory (LRs) to the British Virgin Islands as their recent visit to the nation did not get them the desired information about firms registered there.
A joint team of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the CBI had recently travelled to the tax haven nation in connection with its probe against eight firms involved in the 2G case and met the Attorney General of the island nation.