Let's have a debate on 2G loss, Manish Tewari tells CAG

Minister says that after Vinod Rai retires, the latter should agree to have an open discussion on his 2G report

Union Minister Manish Tewari today took pot shots at CAG Vinod Rai asking why Rs 1.78 lakh crore was not generated in the 2G auction and invited him to a public debate to discuss the loss estimated by the auditor.

"The report had said that if an auction is held, it would yield a revenue to the tune of Rs 1 lakh 76 thousand crore. The fact is that an auction was held. But where is that 1 lakh 76 thousand crore?" Tewari said.

"Now that the CAG is retiring, he is giving full fledged interviews, he'll have time on his hands. So all I am requesting is that at a time and place of his choosing, he can even do it a month or two later -- once he settles down after retirement, lets have a full fledged public debate on his 2G report and let the people judge for themselves," he told reporters at the sidelines of an event here organised by Observer Research Foundation.

The minister said there was a debate which played out in the Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G spectrum, but he was bound by privilege not to reveal the contents of that debate.

"I think he (Rai) also respects the parliamentary traditions, but there is no point in both of us or the government or the CAG trying to put its views separately in the public space. Let there be public debate and let the people be the final arbiters as to whether the facts as they were stated were correct or incorrect," Tewari further said.

Rai, who is set to retire on May 22, in a media report said that he "felt sorry" for Kapil Sibal and other ministers who sought to dismiss the 2G report by proffering a "zero-loss" theory.