December 21, 2017 will be remembered as a black letter day in India’s fight against corruption that started over three-and-a-half years ago with prime minister, Modi taking charge in May, 2014.
This is a day when the corrupt politicians and their cronies thronged the roads of Delhi and Chennai celebrating – shouting slogans and distributing sweets – following the judgment of a special CBI court that heard the cases of those involved in the infamous 2G scam. The court acquitted all persons – the politicians, ex-bureaucrats and top industry executives – against whom the Central Bureau of Investigation [CBI] and Enforcement Directorate [ED] had framed charges under the Supreme Court [SC] monitored investigations.
In his order, the judge OP Saini observed that prosecution was unable to prove the charges and hence, the acquittal. The scam happened under the UPA dispensation during 2007-08 – the prime accused being the then telecommunication minister, A Raja. It was unraveled in the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General [CAG], Vinod Rai submitted to the parliament in 2010.
The scam – the epitome of monumental corruption during UPA regime – was a major talking point during 2014 general elections and reverberated in almost every speech of N Modi the then prime ministerial candidate of BJP. This alongside ‘policy paralysis’ during UPA – II [2009-2014] were the two most important factors responsible for the resounding defeat of Congress and installation of NDA government led by Modi.
The grand old party has interpreted the judgment to mean that there was no corruption under its regime; that Modi/BJP had resorted to malicious propaganda only to discredit the then government with the sole intent of unseating it. It has also castigated Vinod Rai for what it has dubbed as ‘mountain of lies’ in his report and playing in to the hands of BJP. Congress seems to be jumping the gun.
First, all that the judge has done is to point towards lack of evidence needed to substantiate the charge. In no way, it can be taken to mean that there was no corruption; nor has he said so. Second, the CBI botched up the investigation/prosecution even as the judge has devoted hundreds of pages indicting the agency. Third, there is always a possibility of verdict being over-turned by the higher courts.
Fourth, the judgment is completely out of sync with the order of Supreme Court [SC] in February, 2012. The apex court had quashed 122 licenses for spectrum issued to telecommunication companies during 2007-08 holding the process of allotment as ‘arbitrary’, ‘capricious’ and ‘unconstitutional’.
The licenses were granted following a policy of ‘first-come-first serve’ even as the then, prime minister, Dr Manmohan Singh was contemplating a market-based model or giving licenses via auction route and sought the opinion of the law ministry. The latter had suggested setting up of a group of ministers to examine this and come up with suitable recommendations. But, Raja was impatient; he went ahead overruling Dr Singh even as top bureaucrats in prime minister office [PMO] kept latter in the dark.
The argument of Congress brass now that ‘all that UPA did was continuation of the policy followed by NDA earlier under Vajpayee’ is untenable. This is because the underlying circumstances during the two regimes were entirely different.
During the NDA regime [1999-2004], the telecomm sector was in a nascent stage and there was not much interest among prospective investors. The prime objective of the ruling dispensation then was to give an opportunity to anyone coming forward. The ‘first-come-first serve’ policy was best suited for those conditions. By 2007-08, the sector was booming with rapid growth and very many companies showing interest. This was the time ripe for auction of the spectrum for garnering substantial revenue.
Yet, the government of the day continued with ‘first-come-first-serve’. Not just that, it pegged the price of the spectrum ‘arbitrarily’ at the same level as in 2001 ignoring the much higher price if it had gone for competitive bids under the auction route. It was on this basis that the then CAG had calculated a staggering loss of Rs 176,000 crores to the exchequer. That the loss was real [contrary to zero loss theory propounded by senior Congress leader, Kapil Sibal] is amply demonstrated by the fact that in the two auctions conducted by Modi – government during 2015 and 2016 – as per SC directive – it got Rs 110,000 crores and Rs 65,000 crores respectively.
The then telecomm minister went a step further in exercise of his ‘arbitrary’ and ‘discretionary’ powers by notifying the policy in January, 2008 but applying it retrospectively from October 1, 2007. Even the last date of receiving applications was advanced by about a week from September 25, 2007 to October 1, 2007 only to accommodate favored persons/companies.
The exercise of arbitrariness reached a nadir when Raja gave the ‘first-come-first-serve’ a new incarnation ‘first-come-first-pay’ for granting license. So, the policy was meant to give licenses to those who paid the money first and that too within one hour of giving the notice. Clearly, these were the persons who were told in advance and had their demand drafts [DD] for over Rs 1000 crores ready.
It is clear beyond doubt that serious irregularities were committed for giving licenses to favored industrialists/businessmen. It was a crystal clear case of ‘institutionalized’ corruption by misusing official position to craft a policy designed to ensure that they alone get license. The apex court said so without mincing words and took an unprecedented step of cancelling the licenses.
The lower court was only mandated to go into the details, give its verdict on criminal intent and hand out punishment to the guilty. Unfortunately, that has not happened [courtesy, mishandling and messing up by CBI/ED]. Seeking legitimacy from the court verdict, Congress leaders are building a narrative that it ran a corruption free government during its regime and that BJP created a wrong perception about it based on 2G scam which [according to them] never happened.
At a time, when we are just about 18 months away from next general elections, this could have serious ramifications for the country and the kind of governance that it would get if public is swayed by this narrative. It is absolutely necessary to nip this in the bud.
Team Modi should drive CBI/ED and other agencies of the government into a mission mode to challenge the order of lower court immediately and cogently argue the case to get the higher judiciary deliver a verdict in sync with Feb 2012 order of apex court.