Pioneer rocks Parliament

Pioneer rocks Parliament
October 08, 2010 10:15:17 PM

Pioneer News Service | New Delhi

Spectrum scandal exposé disrupts both Houses; Opposition seeks explanation from Govt

Telecom Minister A Raja was on Wednesday at the receiving end following fresh revelations on the 2G spectrum scandal by The Pioneer about his nexus with a woman public relations lobbyist, who played a key role in the scam. The report was based on excerpts from authorised telephone intercepts of Nira Radia and showed that she was in touch with Raja.

The AIADMK, BJP and the Left parties waved copies of The Pioneer in the two Houses of Parliament and sought explanation from the Government on the news item. They also demanded the Minister’s dismissal. Senior Janata Dal (U) leader Sharad Yadav also brandished a copy of the newspaper and, at one point, entered the well in protest.

The ruckus generated so much heat that Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee lost his cool in the Lok Sabha when he found it difficult to present the finance Bill.

As soon as both Houses assembled for the day, the AIADMK and the Left members rushed to the well in the Lok Sabha displaying copies of The Pioneer and demanding an explanation from the Prime Minister on the outcome of the CBI investigation into the alleged allocation scam.

The Rajya Sabha too was disrupted on the issue. The AIADMK members, led by V Maitreyan, raised the issue even before the Question Hour started. Maitreyan wanted action against Raja. The BJP members too registered their protest on the issue.

Leader of Opposition in the Upper House Arun Jaitley said, “We have a news report which appears to indicate a case of authorised tapping of telephones. Not only is it authorised but, for some curious reason, the contents of what is recorded are also freely available.”

Jaitley wanted to know whether leaders of industry, corporate heads and corporate lobbies were involved in the allocation of portfolios by the Prime Minister and whether the entire 2G spectrum allocation was being guided by these kinds of people.

Quoting The Pioneer, he said, “This appears from the contents of the recordings, which are reported in the newspaper. This is a very serious issue. Was it authorised? How is it available in the market? The Government certainly needs to come out with a response on both these issues.”

Meanwhile, Maitreyan started displaying copies of The Pioneer, to which Chairman Hamid Ansari objected. Maitreyan said the issue should be discussed immediately. Intervening in the matter, CPM’s Sitaram Yechury said it was an important issue and it needed to be discussed. “This is violative of the judgement of the Supreme Court, which said that phone tapping is illegal,” he said.

Taking strong exception to the disruption of the House, Ansari said, “The Chair has watched with great distress constant disruption of the Question Hour in this session. If the Question Hour is that irrelevant, then the Chair exercises the right of invoking Rule 38 and shifting the Question Hour… I shall give a decision on this in the course of the day.”

Despite his observation, the Opposition continued shouting and forced Ansari to adjourn the House till noon.

In the Lok Sabha, the AIADMK and the Left members rushed to the well and displayed copies of The Pioneer report, demanding an explanation from the Prime Minister on the outcome of the CBI probe into the alleged scam.

Observing that making allegations was against the rules, Speaker Meira Kumar said members should raise the issue during Zero Hour. The members then went back to their seats, and the Question Hour continued.

In the Zero Hour, AIADMK leader M Thambiduari raised the issue again, saying the scandal was worth over Rs 1 lakh crore and the Prime Minister must take note of it. “I would like to bring to your notice a very important matter of urgent public importance, which is also a matter of propriety of this House and of the Government. The whole country knows that because of the Minister’s wrong policy, the nation has lost Rs 1 lakh crore. Whenever we raise this issue, the Minister rejects it,” Thambidurai said amid strong protest from DMK leaders.

Raja was not present in the Lok Sabha and DMK leader TR Baalu, along with party colleagues in the Lok Sabha, objected strongly to the charges levelled against the Telecom Minister.

The House had to be adjourned for over one-and-a-half hour. There was no change in the scene when the House met again. Enraged over continuous protests, Pranab Mukherjee called the behaviour “disgusting” and asked the Opposition to allow the financial agenda to be completed. “Only 10 members are holding a House of 543 (to ransom). This is not fair. This is disgusting,” an angry Mukherjee said after the AIADMK members did not relent when he rose to present the finance Bill. The AIADMK has nine MPs in the Lok Sabha.

Mukherjee, who is also the Leader of the House, told the AIADMK members, “Most respectfully, I ask you to go back to your seats.”

Senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha pointed out, “There are records showing phone tapping. We had demanded that the Government form a joint parliamentary committee (JPC). What is the Government’s position?” Mukherjee assured the House that the budgetary process should be allowed to be completed and then all the issues, including IPL-gate, phone tapping and 2G spectrum, could be addressed.

“By Thursday, we hope to wind up the third leg of the Budget process and thereafter the Government will inform you (about discussion on issues raised in the House). There is time, please have some patience,” he said. The issues include 2G spectrum allocation, telephone tapping and the IPL controversy. “On all these issues, we will have the opportunity of holding discussions with various political parties. Either the Prime Minister or I will come to the House. But this will be done after the finance Bill is passed. I am not running away. The session is till May 7,” he said.

Reign of shady deals

June-Oct 2007: A Raja became Telecom Minister in May 2007. In the last week of October 2007, ignoring the objections of Telecom Secretary DS Mathur and Member (Finance) Manju Madhavan, he decided to grant new licences and 2G spectrum. Raja fixed the cut-off date for receiving application as Oct 31, 2007

Nov 1, 2007: The matter went to Law Ministry for clearance. Minister HR Bhardwaj opposed Raja’s move and wrote that the matter be referred to EGoM. He also warned the PM of Raja’s plan to allot spectrum without auction. Raja wanted to give licences/spectrum on the first-come-first-served basis price fixed in 2001

Nov 2, 2007: Ridiculing Bhardwaj, Raja wrote to the PM that Law Minister’s advice was “legally out of context”. Letter delivered at PM’s residence at 8.30 pm

Nov 2, 2007: PM asked for a freeze on all spectrum allocation activity and directed Raja to get his consent before taking any decision. Raja also asked to hold a transparent and competitive auction. PM’s letter delivered to Raja’s residence at 9.30 pm

Nov 2, 2007: Raja wrote back to PM, claiming he was committed to development of telecom sector but remained silent on auction. Letter delivered at PM’s residence at midnight

Nov 22, 2007: Finance Secretary D Subba Rao objected to the pricing policy and directed competitive auction

Dec 4, 2007: Telecom Secretary DS Mathur informed all senior DoT officials of PM’s direction, but Raja issued an internal note that the officials should obey his orders. The note snubbed Member (Finance) Manju Madhavan for “creating hindrances” in spectrum allotment

Dec 26, 2007: Raja wrote to PM that he had decided to go ahead with spectrum allocation on first-come-first-served basis on the rates fixed in 2001. Raja said he was “further enlightened by External Affairs Minister (Pranab Mukherjee) and Solicitor General GE Vahanvati to go ahead with his proactive plans”

Dec 31, 2007: Telecom Secretary DS Mathur retired and Manju Madhavan took VRS. Raja brought in Siddharth Behura as new Secretary, who had worked with him as Additional Secretary in Environment Ministry

Jan 3, 2008: PM did not respond to Raja’s letter; sent an acknowledgement

Jan 10, 2008: DoT issued a Press release at 2.45 pm, stating that the cut-off date was changed from October 1, 2007, to September 25, 2007. It asked the telecom operators to remit fee through demand draft between 3.30 pm and 4.30 pm. It is still a mystery as to how companies arranged DDs worth about Rs 1,600 crore and submitted the same within an hour

Investigative agencies got information that all the nine company owners/brokers who submitted the fee through DDs had a meeting with Raja a day earlier at his residence and were informed about the new cut-off date. The date was advanced because Raja’s favourite company, Unitech, had applied on September 24, as also another favourite, Shyam Telelink

Jan 14, 2008: TRAI chairman Nripendra Misra’s wrote to Behura and objected to the policy, change in cut-off date and manipulation of recommendations. Misra said his recommendations were “cherry-picked” by Raja More on Page 5

Jaya seeks Raja’s scalp

Chennai: After The Pioneer come out with startling revelations on the 2G spectrum scam, AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa on Wednesday reiterated her demand for the dismissal of Telecom Minister A Raja. She also demanded that the CBI official investigating the scam, Vineet Agarwal, who was recently transferred, be brought back to continue with the probe.

In a statement, Jayalalithaa termed the transfer as a rude shock.

http://www.dailypioneer.com/252470/Pioneer-rocks-Parliament.html