A day after a public interest litigation (PIL) petition was filed in the Supreme Court against Communications and IT Minister Kapil Sibal accusing him of monetarily favouring the Anil Ambani-headed Reliance Communications Ltd. (RCom), the Minister denied the charges and asserted that the Rs. 5-crore fine imposed on the firm was as per the terms and conditions of the agreement signed between the government and the private operator.
“In November 2010, the Department of Telecommunications [DoT] served a show-cause notice to RCom for shutting down telephone towers in 13 telecom circles that it had put up with money allocated from the Universal Service Obligation Fund [USOF] and imposed a fine of Rs. 50 crore. But by the time the file reached me in February 2011, RCom had restored the services. Hence, action could not be initiated for termination of services [as intended originally] as per the licence agreement signed [only] between DoT and RCom, but for disruption of services as per the agreement signed between USOF and RCom and the penalty was recalculated from Rs. 50 crore to Rs. 5 crore,” Mr. Sibal told journalists here on Friday.
The DoT never sought Rs. 650-crore penalty as mentioned in the PIL. “I am deeply grieved by what is happening by the PIL filed by the NGO alleging that the Telecom Minister has abused his power to benefit RCom by reducing penalty to Rs. 5 crore. The proceedings initiated by way of an affidavit in the Supreme Court in the 2G case are malicious, motivated and defamatory. PILs are being misused to tarnish the image of Ministers … PILs should not be used to settle personal scores. It is a dishonest PIL…governments cannot function in this manner,” Mr. Sibal said.
The Minister, however, did not give reasons for RCom switching off the telecom towers in rural areas and why the DoT took over four months to take action against it. “The notice for Rs. 50 crore was to pressure RCom...they got worried and finally restored the services. They paid a penalty of Rs. 5.5 crore,” he added. Mr. Sibal also rejected the charge that he had favoured RCom because it had been his client earlier. However, defending the PIL plea filed by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), lawyer Prashant Bhushan said the action against RCom should have been initiated for violation of licence conditions that called for a penalty up to Rs. 50 crore per telecom circle.
“As separate licences are issued for each circle, penalty for violation of licence agreements in 13 circles will be to the tune of Rs. 650 crore and not Rs. 50 crore or Rs. 5 crore what the DoT later charged,” he pointed out.
On Mr. Sibal's objection linking the PIL plea to the 2G scam, Mr. Bhushan said the violations by RCom were linked to 2G licence conditions. “As per the Supreme Court's directions, the CBI is probing the entire gamut of 2G licences — irregularities in its allocation and non-fulfilment of licence conditions, therefore this should also be a part of the 2G scam case,” Mr. Bhushan said.
Keywords: RCom penalty issue, Kapil Sibal
Shame on all the senior congress ministers who still keep on defending their corrupt activities. Sibal should be a role model for the right reasons not the way he is. Chidambaram should hang his head in shame. It is clear from what is happening even if you are decently qualified once you are with the corrupt group you also become one. No wonder India is not able to progress.
It is heartening to believe that our revered Prime Minister will do something to refurbish the image of the Government and the Congress Party. Yet he may perhaps plead again compulsions of Coalition Politics to defend not taking effective action to stem the tide. We the people should now decide to give clear verdict in the elections so that the occupier of the post is held responsible; true the P.M. is only the first among equals, still the first has to take and lead the rest, otherwise it becomes mere ornamental, which it is not. Let us hope he will really lead the Nation as his worthy predecessors did. Hope triumphs over experience.
Kabil Sibal should also be advised to prove his zero loss theory and if it is so why he recovered Rs.5 crores from R Com. As separate licences are issued for each circle, penalty for violation of licence agreements in 13 circles will be to the tune of Rs. 650 crore i.e. Rs 50 crore x 13 = Rs.650 crores and not Rs. 5 crore. How Shri Kabil Sibal, an ex advocate of R Com, was permitted to fix the penalty amount ? The Prime Minister should answer to the Public. Unless Supreme Court pass orders, the Govt never look into the issue.
Corruption is only due to extra discretionary power vested with the higher authority. To check nepotism, favouritism, corruption, black money,etc we should stick to' the rule of law' and no discretionary power in day to day work or business of the government.
Mr. Sibal: The towers were out of service for four months and the villagers were denied services during that long four months. You did not explain how the department recalculated the penalty. The six hundred and fifty crore penalty, you will agree as a lawyer, may be considered as punitive damage. In a democracy people have the right to raise questions and it is the duty of the concerned minister to provide explanation without getting agitated. How did you ascertain the PIL is frivilous and politically motivated?
Any school kid can understand that 13 x 50 = 650. The great deal RCom got seems to be like this: "Get 13 for the price of one and on top of that get a 90% discount." Definitely not the usual thing.
Is this the man, who said that there was zero loss to the Government, when Raja was in CBI's grip?
Sibal defends lowering of penalty for RCom....The PIL was filed in the
Supreme Court. Why is Sibal responding to it with a Press Conference?
Would it not amount to Contempt of Court, in case the Court has
already issued Summons to him, to respond to the PIL? If there is
truth in what Sibal has said in his Press Conference, there is more
likelihood of his getting justice in the Supreme Court, rather than
the people's court as in the past, he has lied with regard to the
Police not resorting to lathi charge against the peaceful and sleeping
protestors of Baba Ramdev, even as TV channels showed poli8cemen
raising lathis to beat the protestors and also even as Rajbala, a
victim, had to be hospitalised for a critical condition due to
injuries sustained.
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