Author: Editorial
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: August 1, 2009
URL: http://www.dailypioneer.com/192895/A-king-size-telecom-scam.html
Let CBI or JPC probe spectrum allocation
It remains an abiding mystery as to what compelled
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Congress to agree to the inclusion of
Mr A Raja of the DMK in the Union Cabinet after this summer's general election.
With its impressive tally and the reduced strength of its allies in the UPA,
the Congress could have told DMK chief M Karunanidhi that it would not include
a controversial politician, accused of converting the Telecom Ministry into
a 'cash-and-carry' counter, in the Cabinet and the party was welcome to nominate
somebody else. After all, the Congress did bargain hard and used rifts within
the Karunanidhi clan to ensure the exclusion of another controversial politician,
Mr TR Baalu, who ran amok in the Ministry of Road Transport, Highways and
Shipping. Even if the Congress failed to block the entry of Mr Raja, the Prime
Minister could have denied him the Telecom Ministry as his past record, to
put it mildly, was dubious. Yet, despite all the tall talk of keeping tainted
individuals out of the Government, we have not only witnessed the return of
Mr Raja to his previous Ministry but unrestrained efforts made by him and
his associates to suppress the truth about his misuse of power. What is equally,
if not more, astonishing is the Prime Minister's silence which could suggest
that he is being indulgent towards Mr Raja. This is no doubt an unfortunate
conclusion, but there really can be no other explanation as to why the Prime
Minister appears indifferent towards the various allegations that have been
levelled against Mr Raja, each one of them based on substantive evidence of
wrong-doing. From short-changing the nation by allocating spectrum at a throw-away
price to bogus firms which then reaped a windfall profit by reselling it to
foreign companies, to influencing BSNL contracts and other such deals, a range
of charges have been levelled against Mr Raja. All this and more has left
the Prime Minister, whose publicists are given to making a display of his
claimed fetish for integrity and probity, unmoved.
In recent days, there have been repeated demands
in Parliament to probe the allegations and uncover the truth. The Opposition
has been vociferous in protesting against Government's inaction and has ruthlessly
listed Mr Raja's sins of omission and commission, especially in the allocation
of spectrum on a 'first-come-first-serve' basis, instead of competitive bidding,
to unknown entities at ridiculously low rates. The two beneficiaries, Unitech
and Swan, who paid an entry fee of Rs 1,651 crore, later sold their share
for a whopping Rs 10,000 crore. Such transactions don't have a hint of scandal,
they reek of corruption. It is obvious that rules were invented, and not merely
manipulated, to benefit entities and individuals. Having failed to prevent
what has been described as a loot, it is the Government's responsibility to
order a full-fledged inquiry into the allocation of spectrum, get to the bottom
of the scam, fix accountability and punish the guilty. This is precisely what
the Opposition has been clamouring for; sadly, this is also precisely what
the Government has been stonewalling in the most brazen manner.
The Prime Minister must step in and do the
morally and legally right thing by either ordering a CBI inquiry or allowing
Parliament to set up a Joint Parliamentary Committee. Not to do either would
be tantamount to condoning corruption at high places which cannot but be a
blot on the image of the Government and cast a shadow on the Prime Minister.
Surely he wouldn't want that to happen.