Jaitley disapproves Congress' reaction on 2G scam verdict

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday disapproved the Congress party's reaction on the acquittal of all accused in the 2G spectrum allocation cases, saying it was celebrating the judgement as a 'badge of honour' and 'certification of honesty'.

The union minister, while addressing the media here, said, "The Congress party leaders are treating the judgement as some kind of badge of honour and a certification that the 2G allocation policy was an honest policy. The spectrum in 2008 was allocated by the UPA Government on basis of 2001 prices."

"Each and every case of spectrum allocation was quashed by the apex court. The policy was quashed as unfair and intended to cause loss to the Government of India and the government was directed to have a fresh policy by which an auction would take place," he added.

Jaitley further said the policy was arbitrary and designed in a way to promote corruption.

"I am sure the investigative agencies will have a closer look at the judgement and acquittal of accused and decide what has to be done," he said.

The verdict in the case was announced on Thursday morning, nearly seven years after the first arrest was made by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2011.

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