The CPI(M) said it appeared to be "a cover-up exercise" to shield beneficiaries of the scam.
Terming as "bizzare" Union telecom minister Kapil Sibal's stand that there was no loss in the second-generation mobile telephony spectrum allocation, the CPI(M) today said it appeared to be "a cover-up exercise" to shield beneficiaries of the scam.
The party also stuck to its demand for a joint parliamentary committee probe into the spectrum issue, saying it was required not merely to nab the accused or look into financial details but to plug loopholes in the system that gave rise to such a situation and formulate new regulations.
CPI-M polit bureau member Sitaram Yechury described as "flawed" Sibal's argument the CAG methodology on presumptive loss of Rs1.76 lakh crore was erroneous. "It appeared to be a cover-up exercise to shield those who had benefitted".
"If the logic was the 3G licence prices could not be taken as benchmark for the 2G licences while calculating the loss, then how could prices of 2001 stand good for licences sold in 2008?" he said at a seminar here.
Yechury said the number of cell phone subscribers had risen manifold in the period and the market price at which these licences were subsequently sold to international players was an indication of the value of the licences. "It is a bizarre argument," he added.
Sibal had yesterday rejected CAG estimates of losses of Rs1.76 lakh on account of allocation of 2G mobile bandwidth to telecom operators saying it "had no basis and was utterly erroneous".
Delivering the keynote address at the seminar 'Corruption is a Challenge to Indian Democracy' organised by local chapter of All India Lawyers' Union, Yechury said corruption was no longer simply a question of morality as it was "eating into the vitals of India's democratic system."
The collateral damage caused was undermining the country's environment, natural resources and its potential to realise its goals including food security and education for all.
He said corruption had become pervasive and was slowly getting "institutionalised and internalised."
To those who argued that earlier JPCs did nothing much, he pointed out it was following a JPC after the Harshad Mehta scam, that a set of financial regulations had come into place.
"Let there be a discussion in the House on the issue of a JPC," he said and blamed the government's "obstinate stand" on the issue of stalling of Parliament.
"It is for the government to resolve the issue", Yechury said, adding that his party was in favour of Parliament's functioning.
JPCs, he said, had been appointed earlier in scams of much smaller dimensions.
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