CAG hits out at Kapil Sibal

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on Wednesday lashed out at Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal saying it was ‘improper’ for anyone to comment on a matter being considered by a parliamentary committee.

Sibal on Friday had faulted the CAG’s report on the alleged 2G spectrum allocation scam, calling it ?utterly erroneous?.

On Wednesday, the government’s auditor said, when any matter is under consideration of a Parliamentary Committee, no person, including a Member of Parliament, should make or publish a statement or comment about that matter.

Making public comments on the matter is highly improper and may even amount to contempt of the House, the CAG added.

Earlier Murli Manohar Joshi, Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) which is investigating the alleged scandal, had said that Sibal’s statements have hurt the prestige of the CAG and the PAC.

Speaking to reporters, he said that the Committee wanted that it should be ensured that such a thing does not happen again.

With his government facing incessant heat over the purported telecom scandal which, according to the CAG, cost the government’s exchequer Rs 1.76 lakh crore in lost revenue, Sibal had on Friday hit out at the auditor calling it’s estimate ?utterly erroneous?.

?The CAG figure (on 2G allocation scam) is utterly erroneous. We are extremely pained at methodology adopted by CAG for arriving at 2G figures that have no basis. We respect CAG but the figures have no basis whatsoever,? Sibal had said.