After adopting a non-committal stance, the Congress openly criticised the Comptroller and Auditor General?s (CAG) report on 2G spectrum allocation. Moreover, the party strongly defended Kapil Sibal, Minister of Telecommunications and IT?s statements on the issue.
According to Manish Tewari, spokesperson for the party, the CAG has itself stated in the report that the figure of Rs 1.76 trillion is presumptive. Therefore, the question that arises is how can a figure related to losses be calculated on presumptions? He said the CAG has based its calculations using figures quoted by STel as a benchmark. On the other hand, the CAG has admitted in the report that it was a company, which had failed to meet the eligibility criteria for spectrum.
Thus, Tewari said Sibal’s remarks that the CAG report findings were baseless, were logical and reasonable. He added that Sibal had to go public since the opposition did not allow the government to speak in Parliament for more than a month. Keeping this in mind, he said Sibal, who had access to all relevant documents had given the statement with full responsibility.
With regard to criticising the CAG, Tewari said the party was merely discussing the subject, as desired by the CAG. Moreover, Tewari added that it was improper for the CAG to have made the 2G report public before it was tabled in Parliament.
