World Snap

No minister has resigned over CAG report: Veerappa Moily

New Delhi : Law Minister Veerappa Moily on Friday said the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report on 2G spectrum allocation is not a ?final? and no minister has ever resigned based on it.

?The CAG report is not a final report; technically no one can call it an indictment (of Telecom Minister A Raja),? Moily said here on Friday.

?I don?t remember any minister, who has resigned following a CAG report,? Moily said.

Earlier on Friday, Telecom Minister A. Raja ruled out his resignation over the 2G spectrum issue and maintained that contracts were according to the law.

?The question does not arise at all. We will prove that everything has been done according to the law,? Raja said.

His statement came a day after the opposition stalled the proceedings in Parliament for the second consecutive day demanding his resignation for causing loss to the Government exchequer between Rs 70,000 and Rs 140,000 lakh crore.

Asked if would step down in the wake of the mounting attacks from the opposition, including Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), Raja said: ?Where does that question arise from? It doesn?t arise at all.?

He was also critical at the AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa for her offer to support the United Progressive Alliance Government if the Congress dumped the Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam (DMK) and sacked him.

“The CAG report is still pending in Parliament,” Raja quipped while rejecting the demand for his resignation.

Raja said he had followed all the norms set by the cabinet in 1999 for the 2G auction.

He further said that he will not comment on the spectrum allocation issue as it is ?sub-judice? and said the affidavit submitted by the Telecom Department before the Supreme Court is enough.

?The entire matter is sub-judice. It may not be fair on my part to comment on this… Whatever I have done is according to the law,? he said.

The Government’s auditor has held Raja directly responsible for costing the Government Rs1.40 lakh crore through his controversial allocation of 2G spectrum in 2008.

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