Fresh telecom probe to start from 2001

The government on Thursday appointed a one-man committee comprising retired Supreme Court justice Shivaraj V Patil to probe the 2G spectrum scam.

The government on Thursday appointed a one-man committee comprising retired Supreme Court justice Shivaraj V Patil to probe the 2G spectrum scam.

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The probe will cover the 2001-09 period. The BJP-led NDA was in power from 1998 to 2004.

“We’re looking at the internal departmental procedures adopted by the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) in 2001-09 with the issuance of telecom access service licences and allocation of spectrum to all telecom access service licencees,” said communications and IT minister Kapil Sibal.

The panel will also examine if there was any violation of the policies laid down by the DoT.

The Opposition, which has stalled Parliament for 20 days demanding a joint parliamentary committee to look into the alleged irregularities, called it an eyewash. “The committee proposed is not even a court of inquiry. Our demand for a JPC remains,” said Arun Jaitley.

The CPI(M) too called it a “diversionary and dilatory step”.