Govt's choice of PM's principal secy questionable : AAP

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday described the BJP-led NDA government’s choice of Nripendra Misra for the post of prime minister’s principal secretary as “highly questionable and unethical”, pointing out that he headed Trai — which was pulled up by the Supreme Court — when 2G spectrum scam happened.

“It is shocking that the Narendra Modi government is hell bent on changing the law to facilitate the appointment of a controversial individual, who headed the telecom regulator at a time (in 2007) when one of the biggest scams in India’s history took place, and none other than the Supreme Court held the Trai also responsible for the scam in its judgement delivered on February 2, 2012,” it said in a statement.

The party, which already opposed the introduction of the Trai (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) amendment bill in the Lok Sabha, urged all political parties to oppose the government’s intent of “subverting the impartiality of regulators” in different sectors in Parliament.

Misra was the Trai chairperson from 2006 to 2009 and a close look at the facts showed that it was Trai which had recommended that the 2G spectrum should not be auctioned, leading to the mega scam, it added.

The party sought an explanation from the Modi government office for making eligible “an otherwise ineligible individual” for the key post.

In its verdict, the Supreme Court had in the case titled  ‘CPIL Vs the Union of India’ severely criticised the Trai recommendations on 2G spectrum allocation.

While quashing the 122 licences issued for the allocation of 2G spectrum, the apex court had ruled that the telecom department should not have accepted the Trai recommendations in which there was no merit, which were flawed and violated the settles policies.

The Supreme Court stated, “To say the least, the entire approach adopted by Trai was lopsided and contrary to the decision taken by the Council of Ministers and its recommendations became a handle for the then the Minister of C&IT (communications and information technology) and the officers of the DoT who virtually gifted away the important national asset at throw away prices by willfully ignoring the concerns raised from various quarters including the prime minister, Ministry of Finance and also some of its own officers.”