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2G scam ruling: Court found lack of criminal intent in spectrum sale: R Chandrashekhar, Nasscom

Talking to ET Now, R Chandrashekhar, President, Nasscom, say..

Talking to ET Now, R Chandrashekhar, President, Nasscom, says this case was about the criminal aspect, whether any of the accused misused their position or entered into some kind of a conspiracy in return for gain and ruling indicates that the nexus has to be proved in a court of law and that criminal element has not been done to a level that is satisfactory in the eyes of the law.

Edited excerpts:

What is your initial reaction to the acquittal of all the accused in the 2G Scam. While one may argue whether the notional Rs 1,76,000 crore figure cited by CAG was actually the loss to the exchequer and that is a debate in itself, how would you react to the fact that all the accused have been given a clean chit on charges of cheating, abusing public office, criminal conspiracy and Prevention Of Money Laundering Act?
There are actually three distinct components that are involved here. One is the policy issues, the other is the implementation and any aberrations that took place in implementation and the third is any criminality involved in terms of a quid pro quo and people acting against the policy or people incorrectly implementing policy in return for a consideration. This case is about the criminal aspect namely whether any of the accused misused their position or entered into some kind of a conspiracy in return for gain. The judgement seems to indicate that the nexus has to be proved in a court of law and that criminal element has not been done to a level that is satisfactory in the eyes of the law. That is the inference that can be drawn.

The figure of Rs 1,76,000 crore sort of caught the imagination of the country saying that how could such a big scam have happened? Is this a big letdown for the people of this country because this was a watershed moment when it came to corruption in public life and the fact that the entire process of allotment was changed subsequently and is far more transparent when it comes to the interface between government and industry today than there ever was. Yet chronic capitalism is seen as a thing of the past and we have a judgement that says nothing wrong happened and there was no 2G scam!
The analysis has to be a little more nuanced than that. The fact is that in the policy that was being followed up to that point in time, it was not the stated policy to get the highest possible cost for the spectrum and from a policy perspective, there are some merits in that approach as well but that is a separate issue. Policy making is a function of the government and the government of the day took whatever policy decisions were seen as being in the best interest of the country. But there are a lot of questions over how that actual figure of Rs 1,76,000 crore was computed.

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