2G spectrum scam: Congress should not treat verdict as a badge of honour, says FM Jaitley

New Delhi: Reacting to the 2G verdict in which the special court acquitted all accused including former Telecom Minister A Raja and DMK Rajya Sabha member Kanimozhi in the 2G case, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said that the Congress must not consider it a certificate.

"Congress leaders are treating this judgement as some kind of a badge of honor and a certification that it was an honest policy," Jaitley said, adding that the party's zero loss theory was proven wrong when the Supreme Court quashed spectrum allocation in February 2012.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in its chargesheet had alleged that Raja was biased in allocating 2G mobile air waves and operating licences to telecom firms, causing a huge loss to the state exchequer.

Stating that there was a huge “element of arbitration” within the policy implementation, Jaitley said that the cut-off date was advanced while the first-come, first-served basis policy was intended to serve only a few.

“In 2007-08, spectrum was not given by auction, but on the basis of price discovery which was based on 2001 prices. It was then changed to first-come, first-pay policy. Favourite few were told in advance about the policy,” he said.

“This was a corrupt and dishonest policy, which has already been upheld by the Supreme Court in 2012,” the FM added.

The alleged scam in the issuance of licences and allocation of 2G spectrum by the Department of Telecom occurred during the Congress-led UPA government`s first tenure in 2008 but was widely reported in 2010 following a report by then Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) Vinod Rai.

“I am sure investigating agencies and prosecuting agencies will look into it and decide what to do further in the matter. The Congress should not consider this as some kind of certificate of clean chit,” Jaitley added.