Just two days after the CBI filed its first chargesheet in the 2G spectrum probe, the parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) today questioned Ratan Tata and corporate lobbyist Niira Radia to get to the bottom of the telecom mess. The PAC Chairman Murli Manohar Joshi said Ratan Tata didn’t deny that it was his voice in the calls that have been leaked.
Here is the verbatim transcript of Siddarth Zarabi’s comments on CNBC-TV18. Also watch the accompanying video.
This is perhaps the first time ever that a lobbyist of the size and stature of Niira Radia has appeared before PAC and therefore I think we should also perhaps give her the benefit of doubt in this case. But when it came to the question there were several specific pointed questions that were asked to her, essentially around the fact that whether she was involved in lobbying when it came to government formation.
About her relationships with her clients including the Tatas and whether or not she was in touch with the whole lot of people that includes journalist and corporates as well as policy makers like A Raja.
The sum total response of several PAC members and not just the Chairman was the fact that they did not find Radia cooperative and at the end of it one of the senior most PAC members did make a pointed reference to the fact that this is after all a parliamentary PAC and any person who does not cooperate could face charges of contempt but perhaps it might be too early to say whether that indeed would happen. But as far as Radia is concerned the PAC has taken her deposition on record, a long deposition taken after making her wait for almost for an hour outside the meeting room and then the action shifted to Ratan Tata.
Three of the big points that Ratan Tata has made and I think this is very important at this stage. Ratan Tata has clearly said that telecom policy was okay but perhaps implementation was improper and therefore maintaining something that Tata has been talking about for several years now when it comes to telecom policy.
In response to a pointed question whether auctions are good or whether India should have continued to follow a first-come-first-serve policy, the kind that was in place since 1994, Ratan Tata gave a balanced answer giving the example of Europe and other places. He also talked about the fact that he didn’t know what was happening in China or other countries and therefore seeming to suggest to the PAC members who briefed us subsequently that he was perhaps not fully convinced with the idea of passing on all costs to consumers and therefore the auction model there was some element of balance.
And the third and final question in this sort of reverberated across the entire PAC was in a response to an issue of bribe paying Ratan Tata coming out unrequitedly saying very clearly and forthrightly that his group does not believe in giving bribes and therefore if something has happened elsewhere he really cannot talk about it. That led to Murali Manohar Joshi and other PAC members talking about the fact that he was candid and forthright to the extent that was possible in these circumstances.
Anil Ambani to face PAC tomorrow
Four people are being questioned, or rather have been invited to appear before the public accounts committee. Atul Jhamb, CEO of Etisalat, Sigve Brekke Managing Director of Uninor as well as Shamik Das of S Tel but the big name clearly is Anil Ambani. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is working out a whole long list of questions that are going to be posed.
This is perhaps the end of high profile telecom CEOs and promoters being invited to depose before the public accounts committee. While it may finalize its report in the next 4-6 weeks, if it feels it may call some other people but for now tomorrow seems to be the big day with Anil Ambani set to make an appearance.
Source: www.moneycontrol.com
Thanks & Regards,
Maulik Doshi
DENIP Consultants Pvt. Ltd.
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