2G scam: Supreme court expresses surprise over TRAI's zero loss claim
21 Sep 2011
The Supreme Court today sharply criticised the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) report that purportedly assessed zero loss in the 2G spectrum allocation during the tenure of former telecom minister A Raja. The court also cast doubts on the way the regulatory body functions.
"We are really surprised over the communication. It was created as an autonomous regulator. It is a serious debatable issue what they have done and stated in recent days," a bench of justices GS Singhvi and AK Ganguly said.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) also expressed surprise at the stance of the TRAI and said it had not accepted the report.
"I agree that it is a matter of concern. We have not accepted the report. Anybody (accused in the scam) can take advantage of it," said senior advocate KK Venugopal, appearing for the agency.
The bench also said "everything should have been left to the court to decide. We have not made any observation so that nobody is prejudiced."
"We will reserve our observation on this but this has surprised us," the bench said.
