'Candid' Tata, 'evasive' Radia appear before PAC in 2G probe
Tuesday, 05 April 2011, 15:27 IST   |    4 Comments
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'Candid' Tata, 'evasive' Radia appear before PAC in 2G probe
New Delhi: Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata and corporate lobbyist Niira Radia were questioned by parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC), probing alleged financial irregularities in the 2G spectrum allocation. Panel head M.M. Joshi said Radia was "evasive" in her replies while Tata was "candid enough". In separate interrogations at a committee room of Parliament House, PAC members quizzed them for hours based on the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report in connection with what is billed as the biggest scam of independent India. Radia was questioned on her links with politcians, bureaucrats and journalists and for trying to influence the cabinet formation to pitch for A. Raja as the IT and communications minister in the UPA-II government. Joshi, a BJP leader, was not at all happy with Radia's responses. "Radia was questioned. But she was not ready to place the facts cleanly before the committee. She was evasive and evaded direct answers." Radia, whose phone was tapped and conversations with politicians, corporates, bureaucrats and journalists were taped, and is said to be a key figure in the alleged scam, reached Parliament House around 11 a.m. but was asked to wait till 12 as the panel members were still discussing questions to be asked. Joshi refused to specify the questions Radia was asked, but said the panel has sought clarifications from her on the tapped conversations, including allegations of trying to influence cabinet formation. "'I dont know, I don't remember, this is not my voice, I have not heard these tapes...' was her refrain to many questions," Joshi said. Joshi said when Radia denied having listened to the tapes, she was asked about the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is also looking into the case, naming her as a witness in its charge sheet filed Saturday. "She then said she has listened to some of the tapes and we asked her to give us the list of the tapes she has listened," Joshi said. She is expected to give the committee the tapes in a week. The PAC quizzed Tata from 3 p.m. onwards. His questioning went on till about 6 p.m. "I must say Ratan Tata was very candid. He answered clearly and very openly. He informed the committee that he was first apprehensive about facing it. But he answered professionally," Joshi said. Tata has also accepted that the voice in a recorded conversation with Radia was his and has also accepted that he had written a letter to DMK boss and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi praising Raja. "Tata promised to get back to the committee with the questions (about which) he didn't know," Joshi said. Tata and Radia's questioning came two days after the CBI filed the charge sheet in the 2G scam. On Tuesday, the PAC has asked Reliance Communications chairman Anil Ambani, Etisalat DB Telecom CEO Atul Jhamb, S-Tel CEO Shamik Das and Unitech Wireless managing director Sigve Brekke to appear before it. The panel has earlier had meetings with Telecom Secretary R. Chandrashekhar, his predecessors D.S. Mathur and S.S. Behuria, former member (finance) in Telecom Commission Manju Madhavan, RBI Governor D. Subbarao, who was union finance secretary when the 2G spectrum was allotted, and former Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) chairman Pradip Baijal. The PAC took over the probe into the raging scandal involving allocation of second generation spectrum by Raja in 2008 at below market prices, causing huge losses to the government. The losses were first pointed out by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India. Raja was forced to step as the communication minister in November last and was later arrested and put in prison. The scam is being probed by multiple agencies including CBI and a joint parliamentary committee (JPC).
Source: IANS
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