Author: PTI
Publication: The Hindu
Date: June 4, 2011
URL: http://www.hindu.com/2011/06/04/stories/2011060464151400.htm
Public Accounts Committee chairperson Murli
Manohar Joshi on Friday accused Dayanidhi Maran of transferring all powers
of the Group of Ministers to the Telecom Minister during his tenure and then
changing policies to benefit Aircel, whose new buyer allegedly invested in
his family-owned Sun TV network.
"Several documents were changed and it
was accepted. All the powers that must have vested with the group of ministers
were transferred to the Telecom Department. That is how the whole thing started,"
Dr. Joshi told reporters here.
Dr. Joshi was examining the 2G spectrum allocation
issue as PAC chairperson and submitted a report on April 30 in the mid of
stiff opposition from the Congress, SP and BSP members.
The BJP, which had till now made A. Raja the
main target of its attacks for anomalies in the 2G scam, has hit out at Mr.
Maran in the wake of allegations that his family-owned Sun Direct TV received
investments from Maxis Communications, a Malaysian company which had benefited
from Aircel.
"Maran started a big correspondence for
getting the terms of references changed and separating the pricing of the
spectrum. He was the one who took away the power from the Group of Ministers
to look into the various aspects of allocation of spectrum and policy of pricing,"
Dr. Joshi said.
Dr. Joshi questioned how Mr. Maran had changed
the policy.
He seemed to absolve Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh of most of the responsibility of this wrongdoing, saying he may not
have been aware of things due to this change.
"In my opinion, if at that very moment
something should have been seriously thought about, then perhaps this serious
issue could have been solved...I can't say if it would have happened or not,
but at least the Prime Minister and others would have understood why it was
being done."
Sack Maran: BJP
Meanwhile, the BJP has demanded that Dr. Singh
sack Mr. Maran if he did not resign on his own in the wake of allegations
of a quid pro quo in awarding spectrum to Aircel.
"Maran has no right to continue. There
are clear evidences that when the Malaysian company made the investment he
was the Minister," BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar said.
Briefing reporters on resolutions adopted
at the party's national executive meet, he said the BJP demanded action against
all influential people involved in scams and corruption cases of the UPA government.
Terming the 2G as the biggest scam, he said
the Opposition has had to take a tough stand, due to the 'adamant attitude
of the government.'
"Even the Supreme Court had to ask why
silence was maintained. It's a conspiracy of silence and culpability of indifference,"
he alleged, questioning why UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi did not speak on
the corruption issue.
The BJP spokesman also alleged that a scam
worth Rs. 85,000 crore in the Coal Ministry had been committed when the department
was held by the Prime Minister.
He alleged that the government's attitude
on the 2G scam was not to check corruption, but to cover it up.
