Did not lower Reliance penalty,it was all on paper: Kapil Sibal

He dismissed as “malicious,motivated and defamatory” charges levelled against him by an NGO in a PIL that the minister downsized a penalty of Rs 650 crore to Rs 5 crore as a favour to the company.

Addressing a press conference here a day after the petition was filed in the Supreme Court,Sibal questioned the basis for computing the penalty as Rs 650 crore whereas the USO Fund itself had recommended a penalty of up to Rs 50 crore only.

“I am deeply grieved by what is happening… the PIL filed by an NGO says the Telecom Minister abused his power to reduce penalty on Reliance Telecom to Rs 5 crore,” an agitated minister said,adding that PILs should not be “used to settle personal scores”.

Giving details about the issue,he said Reliance Telecom services were switched off for “whatever reasons” in November 2010 and on December 21,a showcause notice was issued to the company threatening the imposition of a “lumpsum” amount of Rs 50 crore as penalty for the same.

“The notice for Rs 50 crore was to pressure Reliance Telecom…. They got worried,” Sibal said,adding the services were restored on February 16 this year and the company paid a penalty of Rs 5.5 crore.

He maintained the penalty was calculated on the basis of the duration of disruption of services (7-45 days) as provided in the agreement between the USO Fund and RCom.

Sibal also termed as “unfortunate” allegations that he had overruled officials of his ministry. He said the government cannot function when a minister cannot take a decision because he would be labelled as “dishonest and wanting to favour private parties”.

Sibal suggested PILs were being misused as they were meant only for serving public interest and “not to settle a personal score”. He,however,did not elaborate when asked whether he felt he was deliberately being targetted.

An application was filed in the Supreme Court by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) alleging Sibal reduced the penalty from Rs 650 crore to Rs 5 crore against the Anil Ambani-headed RCom for violating the UASL agreement.

The NGO alleged that a penalty of Rs 50 crore per circle should have been imposed for “violation of the terms and conditions of Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) agreement and UASL agreement by voluntary,unilateral and unauthorised switching-off/closure of services to subscribers from USOF sites without any notice.”

“The Rs 5 crore penalty on the ADAG firm was as per the agreement between the USOF and Reliance Telecom. The DoT was nothing to do with the penalty as the company had not violated the rules of license conditions,” Sibal said.

He said when the file reached him on February 18,this year,RCom had already restored the services two days prior to that. He said he gave instructions to impose penalty as per the provisions of the agreement and did not himself decide the amount of Rs 5 crore.

He,however,was evasive when asked on what basis Rs 50 crore was decided as penalty.

Sibal rejected the contention that he had favoured RCom because it had been his client earlier. The noted lawyer he had represented several corporate houses like Tatas,both Ambani brothers and political leaders like Mayawati (BSP),Mulayam Singh Yadav (Samajwadi Party),Prakash Singh Badal (Akali Dal) and Chandrababu Naidu (TDP).

Slamming the NGO’s petition,he questioned why it was filed in 2G case as there was no link. “…Decision taken pursuant to contractual provisions under the USO Fund have nothing to do with 2G,” the minister said.

Terming the PIL as “the worst case of forum shopping”,he said it was defamatory as it “attributes dishonesty in decision making”. He,however,did not say whether he would file a case of defamation.