Sibal refutes waiving penalty on RComm

Communications and IT minister Kapil Sibal today refuted having any shown any favours Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications in the amount of penalty imposed on it.

He was responding to a civil appeal filed in the Supreme Court yesterday by the Centre of Public Interest Litigation that alleged that the penalty imposed on the company based on certain provisions related to service conditions was grossly inadequate.
 
Without naming any one, Sibal alleged that public interest litigation was being used for settling personal scores.

Sibal said there was also no link whatsoever between the 2G telecom spectrum being heard in the Supreme Court, and the imposition of penalty on some companies for closure of services in some areas.

He said that the government cannot function in this way that if a minister took a decision contrary to what is suggested by A, B and C, it becomes dishonest he said.

He said after Reliance Communications stopped its services in some areas in November 2010, a show cause notice was served on 21 December under what is called the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) agreement, asking why a penalty of Rs50 crore should not be imposed.

''The notice for Rs 50 crore was to pressure Reliance Telecom.... They got worried,'' Sibal said, adding the services were restored on February 16 this year and the company paid a penalty of Rs 5.5 crore.