Congress wearing 2G verdict as some badge of honour, says Arun Jaitley
ET Online|
Dec 21, 2017, 12.33 PM IST
Hours after a special CBI court acquitted all accused in the Rs 30,000 crore 2G spectrum allocation scam, finance minister Arun Jaitely claimed the UPA allocation policy was designed to promote corruption.
In Centre's first reaction to the verdict, Jaitely slammed the Congress party for treating the judgment as "some kind of badge of honour and certification that it was an honest policy".
In 2007-08, spectrum was not given by auction, but on the basis of price discovery, which was based on the 2001 prices. Even within the policy implementation, there was huge element of arbitration. Cut-off date was advanced, first-come, first-served basis policy was intended to serve a few. It was then changed to first-come, first-pay policy," Jaitley said at a briefing after the verdict.
"Favourite few were told in advance about the policy. Even the Supreme Court challenged this first-come, first-served policy and quashed it. The court called it unfair and intended to cause loss to the Government of India."
The court had acquitted former telecom minister A Raja and DMK lawmaker Kanimozhi in the case.
"The opposition failed miserably to provide evidence," said judge OP Saini, who has been dealing exclusively with the cases arising out of the 2G spectrum scam.
"I am very happy with this but will later come down heavily on all the wrong that has been done , " said A Raja, who was one of the key accused in the seven year old case.
"The last seven years has not been easy for me. You have been accused for something that you have not done. This means a lot to my party, DMK. This will enforce the cadre," said Kanimozhi
Essar Group's Ravi Ruia was acquitted too.
The 2G scam tainted the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government, which found it impossible to shake off the label of corruption as other scandals erupted. This birthed an anti-corruption movement that gave rise to the Aam Aadmi Party. The Bharatiya Janata Party then turned it into a powerful campaign plank that helped it defeat the UPA and ride to power in 2014.
In Centre's first reaction to the verdict, Jaitely slammed the Congress party for treating the judgment as "some kind of badge of honour and certification that it was an honest policy".
In 2007-08, spectrum was not given by auction, but on the basis of price discovery, which was based on the 2001 prices. Even within the policy implementation, there was huge element of arbitration. Cut-off date was advanced, first-come, first-served basis policy was intended to serve a few. It was then changed to first-come, first-pay policy," Jaitley said at a briefing after the verdict.
"Favourite few were told in advance about the policy. Even the Supreme Court challenged this first-come, first-served policy and quashed it. The court called it unfair and intended to cause loss to the Government of India."
The court had acquitted former telecom minister A Raja and DMK lawmaker Kanimozhi in the case.
"The opposition failed miserably to provide evidence," said judge OP Saini, who has been dealing exclusively with the cases arising out of the 2G spectrum scam.
"I am very happy with this but will later come down heavily on all the wrong that has been done , " said A Raja, who was one of the key accused in the seven year old case.
"The last seven years has not been easy for me. You have been accused for something that you have not done. This means a lot to my party, DMK. This will enforce the cadre," said Kanimozhi
Essar Group's Ravi Ruia was acquitted too.
The 2G scam tainted the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government, which found it impossible to shake off the label of corruption as other scandals erupted. This birthed an anti-corruption movement that gave rise to the Aam Aadmi Party. The Bharatiya Janata Party then turned it into a powerful campaign plank that helped it defeat the UPA and ride to power in 2014.
