2G spectrum allocations were faulty, corrupt: Manoj Sinha

Reserving his comments on the 2008 2G spectrum scam case judgement, Union Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha on Thursday said the allocations were "faulty, arbitrary and corrupt".

Speaking to media here, the Union Minister said, "We don't want to comment on the court's verdict, but it was the Supreme Court which had said that the whole process was arbitrary and power corridors were taking decisions, so I think nothing more needs to be said."

"The 2008 spectrum allocations were faulty, arbitrary and corrupt. The Congress is giving wrong narratives in the verdict. It is under the investigation agencies to look into the matter," he added.

Appreciating his government's efforts, Sinha added that all auctions during the current government were not only transparent but also got more revenue compared to the previous government, and there was not a single complaint from anyone.

"The spectrum was allocated through auctions thereafter and the collections during National Democratic Alliance (NDA) rule were 10 per cent higher than the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime. Rs.1.9 lakh crore was raised from spectrum auctions since 2015. The NDA government had raised ?65,789 crore from 2016," Sinha stated.

All accused in the 2G spectrum allocation scam cases - including former telecom minister A Raja and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) MP Kanimozhi - were, earlier in the day, acquitted by a Special CBI court.

The verdict was announced nearly seven years after the first arrest was made by the CBI in 2011.

The alleged scam relates to the granting of 2G spectrum licence allocations in 2007-08, which caused, according to a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, a loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the public exchequer.

It was among the major corruption scandals that came to light during the second term of the UPA government headed by Manmohan Singh.