2G scam case: Court verdict underlines JPC stand, says Chacko

Senior Congress leader P C Chacko today said the special court verdict acquitting former telecom minister A Raja and DMK leader Kanimozhi in the 2G spectrum scam case underlined the stand taken by the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the matter.

"Today's judgement of honourable CBI court underlines the stand taken by the JPC that the loss calculation (made by Comptroller and Auditor General) is erroneous and presumptive calculation is not correct," Chacko, who headed the JPC, which probed the 2G Spectrum scam, said here.

Former telecom minister A Raja, DMK MP Kanimozhi and all other accused were today acquitted in the 2G spectrum allocation scam cases by a special court in New Delhi which held that the prosecution "miserably failed" to prove the charges.
 

Chacko said the Comptroller and Auditor General "overstepped" its jurisdiction.

"The CAG overstepped its jurisdiction in assessing the presumptive loss. CAG is only expected to assess the actual loss to the exchequer. But here he made an assessment on the basis of presumptive loss."

"Today, nobody can prove that there was any corruption involved," he told PTI.

The former Lok Sabha MP said the CBI failed to prove the allegation that there was a loss of Rs 30,984 crore to the exchequer in allocation of licences for the 2G spectrum which were scrapped by the Supreme court on February 2, 2012.

Chacko alleged that the 2G Spectrum scam was an "exaggerated political campaign" contrary to the facts.

"Now, the then opposition and the present government owes an explanation to the people of India...they made political gains from 2G scam propaganda," he said.

Chacko was made the chairman of the 30-member Joint Parliamentary Committee on the 2G spectrum issue in March 2011 by then Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar.

The controversial report of the JPC, which gave a clean chit to the then prime minister Manmohan Singh, was submitted to the Lok Sabha speaker in October 2013.

The report, on which six parties had submitted dissent notes, had rubbished the notional loss figure of Rs 1.76 lakh crore estimated by CAG, saying it was "ill-conceived.