Make public Vahanvati's advice to Raja: CIC

Information sought by S C Agrawal under the transparency law was earlier refused by the department of legal affairs

PTI | November 14, 2011



Central information commission on Monday directed the telecom ministry to make public advice tendered by the then solicitor general Goolam E Vahanvati to A Raja, who was the telecom minister, on 2G spectrum issues in 2007.

The information sought by S C Agrawal under the transparency law was refused by the department of legal affairs citing exemption clause of "fiduciary relationship" under the right to information act.

During the hearing, the department cited a previous order and claimed that since the information was given to telecom department, they will be in the best position to disclose the advise given by Vahanvati.

Agreeing with the view, information commissioner Sushma Singh directed the law ministry to transfer the application to telecom department and also directed the latter to make public the advice once the application is received by them.

Raja had allegedly cited the discussion with Vahanvati to press his point before the prime minister to go ahead with spectrum allocation as against the advice of the prime minister asking him to wait for some days before taking any action on the issue.

Raja, on December 26, 2007, had written to the prime minister saying, "I have already consulted the external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee and solicitor general of India G E Vahanvati and they have advised me that as a preemptive and proactive measure, I can go ahead with the allocation of 2G spectrum space immediately."

Raja, who has been arrested by the CBI in connection with the 2G spectrum scam, had written the letter in response to prime minister's communique to him asking him to wait for some days before taking any action on spectrum allocation.

Comments

 

Other News

Tier-2 cities lead India’s digital credit push

Digital payments have become a reflex for urban India, but the confidence earned in paying has not yet carried over to borrowing. That is the central finding of `How Urban India Pays Report 2026`, released by Pahlé India Foundation in collaboration with Amazon Pay. Based on a survey of 5,149 consu

India calls for doubling bilateral trade with UK by 2030

Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal has called upon businesses in India and the United Kingdom to translate the opportunities created by the India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) into expanded trade, investment, partnerships and job creation. Addressing the Bu

Gandhian movement after Gandhi failed: Ram Guha

The Gandhian movement in India, after Gandhi’s death, failed, says Ramachandra Guha, and blames Vinoba Bhave for it. But the movement found new, fertile grounds around the world and succeeded in bringing about a change in South Africa, the US and elsewhere. It is high time it returned home. Of cour

When religion, politics and Bollywood come together

Tavleen Singh, noted journalist and political commentator, has turned to fiction, with her debut novel ‘The Actor’ (HaperCollins India). Set in the near future, it has a superstar, Amit Singh, turning to politics, when the political landscape is dominated by prime minister Guru Gaynendraj

Cabinet approves setting up of Integrated Transport & Logistics Authority

The union cabinet, chaired by prime minister Narendra Modi, on Tuesday approved the setting up of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), called Integrated Transport & Logistics Authority (ITLA), to strengthen research, planning, appraisal, monitoring and impact assessment within the broad domains of Transp

Why foundational literacy and numeracy is key to school education

Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) are often described as the building blocks of education. Yet, their significance goes well beyond a child’s ability to read a sentence, write a response or solve a basic mathematical problem. These foundational skills shape how children understand the world,

Upcoming Conferences



-->

Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter