Manmohan Singh should explain delay on 2G scam: CPI-M

New Delhi : The Communist Party of India (CPI-M) on Wednesday demanded an explanation from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over his ?delay? in taking action against the 2G spectrum allocation scam.

?The Supreme Court has correctly asked why the Prime Minister delayed responding to the request for permission to prosecute the Telecom Minister for 11 months? It should be further asked why the Prime Minister refused to order a probe on the telecom scam for a longer period despite repeated requests?? the CPI-M Polit Bureau said in a statement.

?For instance, the CPI (M) leader in the Rajya Sabha Sitaram Yechury had written to the Prime Minister in November 2008 asking for an enquiry. The Prime Minister should explain in Parliament how this murky affair was allowed to go on for so long.?

The CPI-M said the Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on the issue of licenses and allocation of 2G spectrum has confirmed what has been in public knowledge for long.

?That the government of India suffered a loss of revenue amounting to Rs. 1.76 lakh crore makes the telecom scam the biggest corruption case. Not only the former minister A. Raja along with other guilty officials be prosecuted, but immediate steps should be taken to undo the damage and recover the lost revenue,? the CPI-M said.

The party further said all the companies, who have ?benefited illegally? should be asked to pay up the full amount as per the market value of the spectrum allocation.

?Further, those companies who have got the licenses and spectrum allocation illegally and by violation of the norms, their licenses should be cancelled. Corporate crime cannot be condoned as the UPA government is prone to do so,? said the CPI-M.

Meanwhile, Supreme Court?s remarks on Tuesday against the Prime Minister?s ?silence?, is expected to further intensify the Opposition demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the scandal.

Its echoes were heard outside the Parliament on Wednesday when Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L K Advani said in Patna that the Prime Minister “should answer quickly” to the Supreme Court question and a JPC must be constituted immediately.

Advani said never before had the office of PM questioned like this by the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked why the sanctioning authority (Prime Minister) took 11 months to act on a request seeking permission for prosecution of tainted former Telecom Minister A Raja in the 2G spectrum scam.

The apex court referred to a letter to the PM from Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy where he sought sanction to have Raja indicted over corruption charges.

The CAG report on the telecom scam tabled in Parliament on Tuesday said the 2G spectrum allocation process lacked transparency, and that former minister A Raja’s decision had cost the exchequer Rs 1.76 lakh crore and that 85 of the 125 licences issued were found to be given to companies which did not satisfy basic eligibility criteria.