Ex-CAG Vinod Rai apologises to Sanjay Nirupam over charges in 2G spectrum case

‘Rai must also apologise to nation for fake reports on 2G spectrum allocation and coal block allocation cases’, says Congress leader

Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam.

Seven years after he alleged that Congress leader and former MP Sanjay Nirupam had pressured him in connection with the 2G spectrum allocation case, former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai has tendered an “unconditional apology” to Mr. Nirupam.

In 2014, Mr. Rai, in the course of interviews to the media, named Mr. Nirupam as one of the MPs who reportedly pressured him to keep former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s name out of his report on the 2G spectrum allocation case. The interviews were broadcast and published at the time of the release of Mr. Rai’s 2014 book, Not Just an Accountant: The Diary of the Nation’s Conscience Keeper.

In a video statement, Mr. Nirupam, commenting on Mr. Rai’s unconditional apology, remarked that it was a “golden day”.

“I had urged the former CAG to retract his wrong statements at the time but he refused to do so. I accordingly filed a defamation case against Mr. Rai in the Metropolitan Court in New Delhi’s Patiala house,” he said. He dubbed Mr. Rai’s entire report on the coal block and 2G spectrum allocation cases as “utterly fake”.

“The court didn’t say this, but I would like to say that the report that he prepared in the case of the 2G spectrum allocation and the coal block allocation was nonsense… In case of the 2G report, after seven years of hearings, the judge said the CBI has not given any proof of the alleged scam. The report was fake. The coal block allocation report was also fake. Vinod Rai should apologise for these fake reports too, not to me but to the entire country,” he explained.

Notarised affidavit

Mr. Nirupam also tweeted a copy of the notarised affidavit, saying Mr. Rai “must apologise to the nation now for all his forged reports about 2G and coal block allocations done by the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government”.

In the affidavit (notarised on October 23), Mr. Rai observed that he made certain statements against Mr. Nirupam in September 2014 in media interviews aired on Times Now news channel, and published in media publications, including The Times of India and The Indian Express , subsequent to his book’s launch.

“I have realised that in answers to questions posed to me by the interviewers, I had inadvertently and wrongly mentioned the name of Shri Sanjay Nirupam as one of the MPs, who pressurised me to keep the then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh’s name out of the CAG report on the 2G spectrum allocation during the meetings in the PAC (Public Accounts Committee) or the sidelines of the JPC (Joint Parliamentary Committee) etc,” Mr. Rai stated in the affidavit, adding that the statements televised and published were “factually incorrect”.

“I understand the pain and agony my statements have caused to Shri Sanjay Nirupam, his family, and his well-wishers and thus, would like to offer my unconditional apology for the hurt caused by my such statements to Shri Sanjay Nirupam, his family, friends and his well-wishers… I hope that Shri Sanjay Nirupam will consider and accept my aforesaid unconditional apology and close this issue,” he said.