R P Singh, former director general of audit-post and telecommunication, told the parliamentary panel investigating the 2G spectrum scam he was forced to sign on the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG)’s report on spectrum auction that gave a presumptive loss figure of Rs 1.76 lakh crore.
Singh, who had earlier disputed CAG’s claims on the 2G notional loss, told the joint parliamentary committee (JPC) today he was under pressure from seniors in the organisation to sign on the final report.
The loss figure was calculated on the basis of demand and supply and the market condition at that time, Singh said, adding the Rs 1.76 lakh crore figure was “subjective”. The presumptive loss was not part of the accounting code, accepted internationally, he said.
When senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Yashwant Sinha and Communist Party of India leader Gurudas Dasgupta questioned why he distanced himself from a document, which was prepared by him, the former CAG official said he was only asked to provide inputs for the report, while it was prepared at the CAG headquarters.
Singh further told JPC he had deleted the presumptive loss figure from the report, but it was later included by senior officers. Most opposition members in JPC, including Sinha, were annoyed with Singh and reportedly told him they could not depend on his statements.
Although Singh had made similar claims during the JPC meeting on November 14, 2011, when he appeared before the panel for the first time, Sinha had again asked P C Chacko, who heads the panel, to call Singh as a witness because of his recent statements.
The differences between Singh and CAG first surfaced when the retired CAG officer said field audit team of the national auditor had calculated the loss figure at Rs 2,645 crore in the draft report and not Rs 1.76 lakh crore.
Singh had also said as the government had taken a policy decision against auctioning spectrum and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India had not recommended it, there was zero loss to the government. CAG should not have looked into policy decisions taken by the government. The loss figure of Rs.1.76 lakh crore was at beast a mathematical calculation of an individual and there was no evidence to support it, he had said.