Learning lessons from Guru Digvijay Singh (Diggy
Chacha), Eminent and most intelligent lawyer in India after Mr. Ram Jethmalani
and Telecom Minister, Mr. Kapil Sibal (Kapil Uncle) has strongly countered the allegations
made by Mr. Prashant Bhushan.
A day after a public interest litigation
(PIL) petition was filed in the Supreme Court against Communications and IT
Minister Kapil Sibal accusing him of monetarily favouring the Anil
Ambani-headed Reliance Communications Ltd. (RCom), Kapil Uncle denied the
charges and asserted that the Rs5Cr fine imposed on the firm was as per the
terms and conditions of the agreement signed between the government and the
private operator.
Tracing the history and justifying his
innocence, Kapil Uncle told journalists “In November 2010, the Department of
Telecommunications [DoT] served a show-cause notice to RCom for shutting down
telephone towers in 13 telecom circles that it had put up with money allocated
from the Universal Service Obligation Fund [USOF] and imposed a fine of Rs50Cr.
But by the time the file reached me in February 2011, RCom had restored the
services. Hence, action could not be initiated for termination of services [as
intended originally] as per the licence agreement signed [only] between DoT and
RCom, but for disruption of services as per the agreement signed between USOF
and RCom and the penalty was recalculated from Rs50Cr to Rs5Cr.”
He further claimed that the DoT never sought
Rs650-crore penalty as mentioned in the PIL reducing the overall burden on him
slightly from Rs645Cr to Rs45Cr. “I am deeply grieved by what is happening by
the PIL filed by the NGO alleging that the Telecom Minister has abused his
power to benefit RCom by reducing penalty to Rs5Cr. The proceedings initiated
by way of an affidavit in the Supreme Court in the 2G case are malicious,
motivated and defamatory.” Uncle said. He further expressed his worries and
concerns for innocent Ministers and said “PILs are being misused to tarnish the
image of Ministers … PILs should not be used to settle personal scores. It is a
dishonest PIL…governments cannot function in this manner.”
In his long speech and detailed answers with
polished English to media, Uncle did not give reasons for RCom switching off
the telecom towers in rural areas and why the DoT took over four months to take
action against it. However, he proclaimed an unusual but interesting and unique
way of collecting fine from RCom, which can set a great precedent for other
government departments. He said “The notice for Rs50Cr was to pressure
RCom...they got worried and finally restored the services. They paid a penalty
of Rs5.5Cr.” Sources close to Anna Hazare Panel said that they are considering
introducing such an innovative method to stop corruption and charge penalty.
This statement is also in line with Kapil Uncle’s earlier statement (a support
to author of how to become a trillionaire in 5 years Mr. A. Raja) that there
was no such 2G scam and India hadn’t lost a penny, popularly considered as Zero
Loss Theory across the economic circles.
Uncle also rejected the charge that he had
favoured RCom because it had been his client earlier. However, defending the
PIL plea filed by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), lawyer
Prashant Bhushan remained firm and said the action against RCom should have
been initiated for violation of licence conditions that called for a penalty up
to Rs50Cr per telecom circle.
“As separate licences are issued for each
circle, penalty for violation of licence agreements in 13 circles will be to
the tune of Rs650Cr and not Rs50Cr or Rs5Cr what the DoT later charged,” he
pointed out.
According to a source from the government
(maintaining anonymity), Kapil Uncle was deeply lamented with the controversy
and called Ramdev Baba for a proper yogasan and Asaramji Bapu for medicines in
Ayurveda. We have yet to confirm the news from both Baba and Bapu and which
asana and medicine they suggested. Source further said Diggy Chacha who was
furious last month on Kapil Uncle due to his royal treatment with Finance
Minister Pranab Mukherjee to saffron-clad yoga star as he descended from a
private jet in the New Delhi international airport where the government’s
stalwarts went to receive him, expressed his anger again in private.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2211858.ece
