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| 'No deviation from rules in awarding telecom licences' |
| Press Trust of India / New Delhi Oct 27, 2009, 12:42 IST |
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Telecom Minister A Raja today said he followed the same procedures as his predecessors in awarding licences and allotting spectrum and decisions were taken in conformity with the opinion of the top law officer.
"I have been saying that issuance of licence and allotment of spectrum have been done in accordance with telecom regulator TRAI's recommendations, in consultation with the Prime Minister after clear approval of the Solicitor General of India who was appearing before the tribunal with connected cases," he told reporters here.
There is no question of any ambiguity or aberration of rules and the well established procedure of first come first serve policy has been adopted as devised in the 1999 Telecom Policy brought out by the then BJP-led government.
"All my predecessors followed the same procedure so did I. So, in terms of legal rules and procedure followed, there is no deviation," he said.
Asked if he was victim of a telecom cartel, he said, "It was earlier believed that there should not be more operators so there was an implied stagnation or some sort of cartel... I wanted to bring competition in accordance with (regulator) Trai norms... So the competition might have created some storm... Let it be investigated."
Raja has been facing a charge that he doled out spectrum cheaply to new players that may have caused huge loss to the exchequer and the CBI is investigating into it and last week searched offices of the Department of Telecom(DoT).
On the opposition's demand for his resignation in view of an ongoing investigation involving his ministry Raja said, "Where is the question of resignation... That question does not arise."
Any procedural error by DoT officials, he said, will be in front of the investigating agency. "I should not comment or interfere in course of investigation," he added.
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