Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: Social activist Anna Hazare, Saturday, appealed to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to take action against Union Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal, who has been accused of favouring Reliance Communications on the quantum of penalty on service quality.
Anna also said that he himself will enquire into the matter and bring out details about the HRD Minister.
An application was filed in the Supreme Court by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) alleging that Sibal reduced the penalty from Rs 650 crore to Rs 5 crore against Anil Ambani-headed RCom for violations in the UASL agreement.
The NGO alleged that a penalty of Rs 50 crore per circle should have been imposed for "violation of the terms and conditions of Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) agreement and UASL agreement by voluntary, unilateral and unauthorised switching-off/closure of services to subscribers from USOF sites without any notice."
However, the minister on Friday hit out at the NGO which had approached the Supreme Court against him and said PILs should not be used to "settle personal scores".
He dismissed the charges against him as "malicious, motivated and defamatory" and said if such a scenario prevailed, a minister would not be able to take tough decisions.
With Union Ministers coming under a cloud over the 2G issue, Anna Hazare said it
is the Prime Minister's responsibility to ensure that his cabinet colleagues have impeccable character and integrity.
"It is the Prime Minister's job to ensure that his ministers have impeccable character and integrity," he said when questioned about allegations against Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal.
First Published: Saturday, July 09, 2011, 16:25