Panel faults DoT officials for 2G mess

Our Bureau Updated - March 12, 2018 at 08:48 PM.

The Justice Shivraj Patil committee was set up by the Telecom Minister, Mr Kapil Sibal, to look into the policies and procedures followed during 2001-2009, a period that includes the NDA regime, and ascertain if they were followed in a transparent manner.

Mr Justice Shivraj V. Patil submitting his report on allocation of 2G spectrum to the Union Minister for Communication & IT, Mr Kapil Sibal, in New Delhi on Monday.

The one-man panel appointed by the Telecom Ministry to look into the procedures followed for giving 2G spectrum between 2001 and 2009 has named several top officials of the Department of Telecom for violating rules while granting mobile licences.

While the report of the panel was not made public, sources in the DoT said that the panel has named the former Telecom Minister, Mr A Raja, and some officials including the former Telecom Secretary, Mr Siddartha Behura; Mr Raja's former personal secretary, Mr R.K. Chandolia; and the former Deputy Director-General of DoT, Mr A.K. Srivastava.

In the report submitted on Monday to the Telecom Minister, Mr Kapil Sibal, Mr Justice (retd) Shivraj Patil upheld some of the findings of the Comptroller and Auditor General in identifying several lapses in 2G spectrum allocation. “I have identified the officials on whose part there was deficiency,” Mr Justice Patil said.

The report has also named persons for lapses in 2G licence allocation between 2001 and 2008.

Published on January 31, 2011 07:13