Government is not interfering in probe on 2G spectrum scam: Sibal

NEW DELHI - Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology Kapil Sibal on Wednesday said the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is probing the 2G spectrum scam is an independent body and maintained that the Government of India is not involved in the investigations.

Commenting on the raids being carried out by the CBI, Sibal said the Supreme Court is directly monitoring the CBI now and the Government has no objections to it.

“The CBI is before the Supreme Court. We have no problem in the Supreme Court monitoring directly what the CBI is saying so that the people know that all this is being done in a transparent fashion, and that the government is not involved at all,” he said.

Further criticizing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for holding up Parliamentary proceedings since the winter session began, Sibal said BJP should coin a new term in english language called ‘obstructionoccuracy’.

“The BJP should coin a new term in English language called obstructionoccuracy. You see, we believe in democracy and BJP believes obstructionoccuracy. This is their only job. You see, since 2004 that whenever the Parliament was in session, they used to disrupt the Parliament. They used to demand something or the other,” said Sibal.

Sibal further said people tend to forget very fast what happened in the past, and so they have forgotten what happened during the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) regime.

“All the policy framework and all the migration from the then telecom operators to the revenue sharing regime took place at the insistence of the BJP. What happened at that time was in public knowledge even then, and of course public memory is rather short, so people tend to forget that what happened that time,” he added.

The deadlock in Parliament over the 2G scam continued for the 19th straight day today, with the Opposition remaining adamant on their demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe.

Meanwhile, the CBI today raided the residences of former Telecom Minister A Raja in Delhi, along with his homes in Tamil Nadu, in connection with the scam. But an unrelenting Opposition said that wasn’t enough and continued to insist for a JPC probe.

The Rajya Sabha also witnessed similar scenes, forcing Chairman Hamid Ansari adjourn the house till Thursday

The Winter Session of Parliament began on November 9 and has witnessed repeated adjournments over the opposition’s insistence for a JPC probe into the 2G scam, even after A. Raja resigned as Communications and IT Minister.

Raja was forced to resign last month under considerable pressure from the Congress, which continues to be attacked in Parliament by the Opposition on corruption charges.

The 2G-spectrum allocation has reportedly caused an alleged loss of Rs1.76 lakh crores to the Government, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has stated in a report. (ANI)