New Delhi: As the Government annulled the
S-Band spectrum deal between ISRO's commercial arm Antrix and Devas Multimedia, BJP today sought to know the reasons for signing the agreement in the first place and as to why it took so long to scrap it.
BJP spokesperson Nirmala Seetharaman said the people
of the country should clearly understand why it took several
months for the government to scrap the deal despite Space
Commission's recommendation to do so.
"Why wasn't the deal scrapped (then) when the Space
Commission recommended for its scrapping. There should be a
complete inquiry and people (concerned) should give nation the
due answers," she said.
She was reacting to the decision by the Cabinet
Committee on Security (CCS) to annul the deal on the basis of
a recommendation from the Space Commission.
The annulment came in the wake of a raging controversy
over the deal for handing over 70 Mhz of S-Band spectrum to
the private firm for Rs 1,000 crore on which the CAG has
already initiated action.
She said the BJP wanted to know why the deal was being
terminated at a "critical stage" when it was to come into
effect in a few months.
"We want to know what went wrong leading to the
cancellation of the deal. We can accept the commissions and
omissions in the governance of the country," she said.
She wanted to know whether the government was allowing
foreign firms to have a "back-door entry" into the fields
where private firms have not been allowed so far.
"The band of spectrum which was to be sold is being
used by agencies like Coast Guard. It certainly raises issues
of national security," she said.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, February 17, 2011, 14:41