Former PAC members say spectrum controversy will be re-investigated
KATHMANDU, DEC 26 -
Members of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the since then dissolved Parliament that investigated the controversial allocation of telecom spectrum a year ago have said that there will be a re- investigation once a new parliament is formed. They added that even if the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has recently okayed the process as being lawful, the matter would be reopened and the irregularities probed.
Coordinator of the PAC panel Prakash Chandra Lohani said there would be a re- investigation into the haphazard allocation of 2G and 3G spectrum and abuse of authority. “Even if the anti-graft body has given a clean chit to those indicted, there are other processes too for looking into the matter,” added Lohani. “The CIAA did not carry out a proper investigation into the matter as it was supposed to. The new parliament will not spare the case.”
Based on the their year-long investigation , PAC in January this year had directed the CIAA to investigate in detail a number of issues related to the telecom sector including allocation of 2G and 3G airwaves, issuance of telecom service operating licences, permission for limited mobility service and assignment of mobile spectrum to non-mobile operators. The PAC investigation concluded that there were possible irregularities and directed the CIAA to book those involved in the case.
Dhan Raj Gurung, another member of the PAC probe team, said the CIAA’s decision has clearly indicated how even the constitutional body is influenced by political power.
About three weeks ago, the CIAA had decided that the allocation of telecom spectrum was legal. However, the PAC probe had pointed out that 2G and 3G spectrums were allocated by an ad hoc decision of the then information ministers and the chairman of the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) resulting in billions of rupees in revenue loss to the government. The PAC report has shown that the government lost at least Rs 7 billion to Rs 10 billion in revenue by allocating 3G spectrum without holding an auction.
Following PAC instruction’s, the CIAA’s then joint secretary Ishwori Paudyal was assigned to look into the matter. Paudyal had sent queries to the then NTA chairman Bhesh Raj Kanel. Sources close to the CIAA said the NTA did not send answers to any of the questions while the telecom authority maintains that it sent the relevant documents. Kanel said that he was even ready to go to the CIAA to answer questions.
“It is true that there was no standard norm to allocate spectrum among the operators in past years,” said Kanel. “Later, we had started spectrum allocation devising a rule so the claim of irregularity made by PAC holds no legal ground.” According to him, the report was not based on facts and it had just assumed possible loss of revenue because a similar issue was being debated in India’s telecom industry.
Soon after Paudyal was transferred to the Department of Water Supply and Sewerage, CIAA secretary Ganesh Raj Joshi had assigned joint attorney general Sameer Silwal as the investigation officer. Interestingly, the CIAA found the spectrum allocation to be as per the law immediately after Paudyal’s transfer.
Going through the documents provided by PAC, Silwal wrote the NTA that its decision to allocate spectrum was lawful. “The decision to allocate 3G frequency was taken in accordance with the then laws. From now on, the new spectrum policy will be enforced,” said Silwal.
“We have received a notification about the CIAA’s decision,” said Ananda Raj Khanal, director of the NTA. He added that it was good news for the NTA and also said that they had started to work as per the spectrum policy. Based on PAC’s direction to allocate spectrum only through auction, the Ministry of Information and Communications implemented the new spectrum policy last month which requires the NTA to auction 3G and 4G spectrum. The telecom regulator has been planning to auction 3G spectrum first after issuing unified licences to small operators. Currently, the unified licence provision is under consideration of the Supreme Court.
