Says telecom minister Kapil Sibal, even as Centre hints at forming the panel to probe 2G scam

Even as Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee hinted at the possibility of a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into the 2G scam during a meeting in Delhi, his cabinet colleague and Union Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Kapil Sibal yesterday claimed in Mumbai that he had already accomplished whatever a JPC probe could have achieved.

"What would happen even if the JPC is convened? The panel is not an investigating agency so it will ask the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate.
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Minister of Communications and Information Technology Kapil Sibal addressing a meeting, organised by the Rotary Club of Bombay, at a South Mumbai yesterday

Now, the fact is that the CBI is already investigating the case. Again, if the JPC probes, it will ask for notices to be issued to all the companies involved in the scam.

As you know, I have already sent notices to around 122 companies for cancellation of their licences," Sibal said at a meeting, organised by the Rotary Club of Bombay, at a South Mumbai hotel.

He went on: "The JPC would also recommend that a new telecom policy should be framed.
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As you know, I have already announced a new telecom policy and the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) is in the midst of its probe. I have already done everything that a JPC probe would achieve, even without any such probe.
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So what more does the Opposition want? It does not have any constitutional right to paralyse the working of Parliament."

He added that the Opposition was keen on a JPC probe only because it wanted to score some political points over the Congress-led government. The minister also lashed out at the media for putting out only "negative" news, as he answered a query.

"The media puts out only negative news 24x7. If we don't respond to all these allegations, then you will ask us why we are quiet.

But when we respond to these allegations, you accuse us of trading allegations and counter allegations on TV all the time.
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I don't know from where the media has learnt that the 2G spectrum scam involves some Rs 2 lakh crore. I don't know from where they got this figure," Sibal said.

The minister also claimed that achieving Nasscom's software export target of $225 billion is not a pipedream at all and is very much possible by 2020.

"It is already $60 billion today. But I am not enamoured of numbers. I am more concerned with how technology and the IT will empower Indians," he said.

Sibal, who is also the Union human resource minister, said that he was working closely with the Council of Boards of Secondary Education, which includes both state education boards and central education boards such as the CBSE, to implement what he called "core curriculum".

"The core curriculum that we have framed for science and mathematics will be implemented all over the country. Every state board must implement the curriculum. We are working closely with education ministers of various states," he added.