Govt has nothing to do with RP Singh: Sibal

Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal on Friday rejected BJP allegations that the government was behind former CAG official RP Singh`s sensational claims about the audit of 2G spectrum, saying the government had nothing to do with him.

New Delhi: Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal on Friday rejected BJP allegations that the government was behind former CAG official RP Singh`s sensational claims about the audit of 2G spectrum, saying the government had nothing to do with him.

Singh, who had led the CAG audit team that audited the sale of airwaves by the then Telecom Minister A Raja, stated that he had never put the Rs 1.76 lakh crore as the presumptive loss in the 2008 allocation.

"How come RP Singh is part of government. He is retired. So, how`s the Congress party maligning... We don`t know RP Singh," he said.

"What RP Singh has done is somehow within the system (he) has spoken and (now) it is for the people of India to judge," he added.

Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman Murli Manohar Joshi earlier in the day stated that "Singh`s allegations on 2G report are an attempt to malign Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and PAC by vested interests including the government."

Sibal countered Joshi`s allegations asking how he would react if Singh had named him as part of the conspiracy to malign the government.

"Then Joshi should say that, why are you asking me this question? Joshi should tell who are the conspirators conspiring with RP Singh," Sibal said.

The CAG report, which was tabled in Parliament in November 2010, had pegged the revenue loss to the exchequer on account of allocation of 2G spectrum in 2008 at Rs 1.76 lakh crore raising a political storm.

The controversy over 2G spectrum allocation also led to cancellation to 122 licences by the Supreme Court in February this year.

Sibal said he was saddened by the way a constitutional process was being "adulterated".

"I`m saddened by the fact that a solemn, serious process, a constitutional process was being adulterated in this fashion. But, I`m sure things have a manner of correcting themselves and that institutions must survive and we`ll see those corrections taking place in the future."

He added that truth would finally come to the surface.
"That`s what (has) happened, the revelations are for the people of this country to see, it`s not for me to comment," he added.

PTI

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