Allegation of corruption is not proof: Pranab

October 30, 2009 04:56 pm | Updated November 17, 2021 06:44 am IST - New Delhi

In the face of controversy over Telecom Minister A Raja's role in spectrum allocation, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today said allegation of corruption is not a proof.

Asked if he was giving a clean chit to Telecom Minister A Raja, whose department has come under scanner over awarding licences to new players, and whether the UPA coalition is winking at corruption, he said, "I am not talking of that. In coalition, there is no coalition in corruption."

Replying to a question on Mr Raja's claim that he was being singled out on decisions made collectively in spectrum allocation, he said, "First of all I want to point out that allegation of corruption does not mean that it is a proof of corruption."

On the issue of CBI investigation, he cited a case of a top PSU executive and a technocrat saying he was arrested by CBI and bail was refused to him but finally it was found that "nothing happened there but the damage caused to the reputation of the man has not been repaired. That means that you have to be careful."

The CBI has searched offices of Department of Telecom and offices of many telecom players alleging irregularities in awarding licences and allocation of spectrum to nine new operators in January 2008.

Mr Raja, however, has claimed that licences were awarded in accordance with the recommendations of telecom regulator TRAI and no wrong was done by his department.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.