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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Centre admits giving inaccurate information to Rajya Sabha on auction advice -Dhananjay Mahapatra

Centre admits giving inaccurate information to Rajya Sabha on auction advice -Dhananjay Mahapatra

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published Published on Aug 24, 2012   modified Modified on Aug 24, 2012
-The Times of India

In a major embarrassment, the Centre on Thursday admitted to have inaccurately informed the Rajya Sabha on August 9 that it had accepted Ashok Chawla Committee's recommendation to take the auction route for allocation of natural resources.

The government told the Supreme Court that the finance ministry was taking steps to correct the information given to Rajya Sabha on Chawla Committee recommendations, which were still under consideration and not accepted.

The significant acknowledgement came in response to Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy's charge last week that there were glaring inconsistencies between what the government told the Rajya Sabha, a press release from the Prime Minister's Office and attorney general GE Vahanvati's submissions in court during hearings on the Presidential Reference on 2G judgment. "It is sad even the AG is kept in the dark," Swamy had remarked.

As per procedures of Parliament, inaccurate statements in the two Houses are liable to be punished under the breach of privilege proceedings, although the risk can be staved off by correcting errors.

In a fresh note filed in compliance with the closing directive of the five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia seeking clarity on status of Chawla Committee recommendations, the Centre said, "The reference to government having accepted the recommendations was inaccurate because the decision taken at the meeting chaired by the prime minister was that the 69 recommendations would be pursued by individual ministries in a timely manner."

It added, "It is this statement made to the group of ministers on July 30, 2012 which was reflected in the answers given to Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 208 on August 9. The statement and the answer that 'Government has accepted 69 recommendations of the Ashok Chawla Committee' are not accurate and the correct position is that it was decided that the 69 recommendations would be pursued by the individual ministries in a timely manner."

The note from the government submitted to the court said, "Department of economic affairs (ministry of finance) is taking steps to correct the answer in the Rajya Sabha." This note for the SC was finalized and conveyed by the cabinet secretary after discussion with secretaries of telecommunication, economic affairs and personnel and training.

Govt evasive on SC query

To the Supreme Court's query whether Chawla Committee had recommended auction as the only allocation mechanism across all sectors for all natural resources, the government did not give a straight answer.

It said, "In considering the specific issue of whether the committee has recommended 'auction', the distinction between competitive bidding and market-related processes on the one hand and auction simpliciter on the other, must be kept in mind. 'Auction' is only a species of the genus 'market-related processes'. Thus, even where the committee has recommended adoption of market-related processes, the same cannot be seen as a recommendation for allocation only by way of auction."

The Committee on Allocation of Natural Resources (CANR), headed by then finance secretary Ashok Chawla, had in its June 2, 2011 report given 81 recommendations for consideration of the GoM. "After due consideration of the recommendations of the CANR, the GoM in its second report submitted in March 2012 has accepted 66 recommendations as it is and three recommendations with reformulations," the Centre said.

"While one recommendation was not accepted, it was recommended that 'further action be taken by the ministry of finance (department of economic affairs) for finalizing the remaining 11 recommendations within a period of two months'," it added.

The note finalized by the cabinet secretary to the SC said the GoM also recommended that "further action be taken by the concerned ministries/departments for implementing the 66 recommendations of CANR which have already been identified for acceptance as it is and the three recommendations identified for acceptance with reformulations".

It said the GoM further recommended that "the ministry of finance (department of economic affairs) should monitor the progress of implementation of the accepted recommendations of the CANR by the concerned ministries/departments for timely completion of the exercise".

The Times of India, 24 August, 2012, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Centre-admits-giving-inaccurate-information-to-Rajya-Sabha-on-auction-advice/articleshow/15626489.cms


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