AAP questions Misra's appointment, says will oppose TRAI Bill

Stepping up its attack on the Narendra Modi government, AAP today questioned the appointment of Nripendra Misra as Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister and said he was TRAI chief when it was indicted by the Supreme Court for its role in the 2G spectrum scam.
Terming the appointment as "questionable and unethical", AAP said it would oppose the TRAI Amendment bill that seeks to remove legal hurdles in Misra's elevation.
"It is shocking that the Narendra Modi government is hell bent on changing the law to facilitate the appointment of a controversial individual, who headed the telecom regulator at a time (in 2007) when one of the biggest scams in India's history took place, and none other than the Supreme Court held the TRAI also responsible for the scam in its judgment delivered on February 2, 2012.

"Misra was the TRAI Chairperson from 2006 to 2009 and a close look at the facts show that it was TRAI which had recommended that the 2G spectrum should not be auctioned, leading to the mega scam in 2007," AAP said in a statement.
"The country's top court, while quashing the 122 licences issued for the allocation of 2G spectrum, had ruled that the telecom department should not have accepted the TRAI recommendations in which there was no merit, which were flawed and violated the settles policies," the statement said.
On Friday, the government introduced the bill in the Lok Sabha, which will enable Misra to become eligible for the appointment as Principal Secretary to the PM, amid protests.

The AAP said that the TRAI Act of 1997, amended in the year 2000, added strength to the impartiality and neutrality of the telecom regulator by making it clear that its chairperson and members will be ineligible from holding any government post in future, is a sound law and there is no need to tamper with it.
It said that the bill was "an attempt to subvert the impartiality of regulators in different sectors".