Shivraj Patil report snares DoT babus

Former Supreme Court judge Shivaraj Patil, the one-man-committee, investigating the alleged 2G spectrum allocation scam handed over more than 1,400 pages of the report and supporting documents to the government on Monday.

The government received the report in full media view. However, it did not reveal the findings of the report.

Telecom minister Kapil Sibal, who had earlier defended scam-tainted former telecom minister A Raja’s actions against a scathing report by the comptroller & auditor general of India (CAG), said, “We have just got it. I haven’t had time to look at it yet.” However, he expects to make some of the findings of the report public “very soon”.

According to sources, the speed-track investigation report on the internal ongoings in the department of telecom (DoT) during the spectrum allocation snares many top department officials.

As per the sources, the report primarily tries to nail the role played by different department officials, while Raja’s own alleged misdeeds have already been described in detail by the CAG.

“One of the terms of reference is that if there are any shortcomings, lapses or deficiency in applying or in following procedure by the public officials, they must be identified, which I have done,” Justice Patil said.

While the naming of Raja and his aide RK Chandolia were expected, the report has examined the roles of powerful former bureaucrats in Sanchar Bhawan, including former wireless advisor PK Garg and a former joint secretary MS Sahu. The report has also examined the role of former telecom secretary Siddharth Behuria.

As head of the body that was in charge of the spectrum allotment, Garg had been one of the most powerful officials in the department.

Both Garg and Sahu became prominent under the tenure of Dayanidhi Maran and continued, for some time, to work under Raja.

A former member of telecom commission and two deputy director-generals are also known to have been named in the report.

Besides highlighting bureaucratic complicity in the “2G scam,” Justice Patil’s report has reportedly criticised the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government for having first put in place the “first-come, first-served” policy instead of auctioning the airwaves.

The report also repeated many of the findings of the CAG on the manipulation of the first-come-first-served basis by Raja, as detailed in the auditor’s November report.