Former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai has tendered an unconditional apology to Sanjay Nirupam for taking his name as one of the Congress MPs who was pressurising him to leave the former PM Manmohan Singh’s name out from his report on 2G Spectrum allocation. In response to a defamation case filed by Sanjay Nirupam, Vinod Rai tendered an apology and said that he had erroneously taken Nirupam’s name. Rai said this in an affidavit before the Metropolitan Magistrate’s court in Patiala House where Nirupam had filed a defamation case against the former CAG.
This apology, however, was spun by Congress supporters, leaders and trolls to allege that the former PM Manmohan Singh and Congress had got a ‘clean chit’ in the allocation scam. They further used the apology to allege that the 2G allocation scam did not take place at all and that the nation was misled by Anna Hazare and Vinod Rai.
Manish Tewari took to Twitter to congratulate Sanjay Nirupam for the apology from Vinod Rai. He further ended his tweet by saying, “He (Vinod Rai) should apologise to the nation for his fanciful 2-G & Coal Blocks allocation Reports also”.
I congratulate my friend & colleague @sanjaynirupam for securing an unconditional apology in Court from Former Comptroller&Auditor General of India Esteemed Shri Vinod Rai.
— Manish Tewari (@ManishTewari) October 29, 2021
He should apologise to the nation for his fanciful 2-G & Coal Blocks allocation Reports also.@Amar4Odisha pic.twitter.com/MlMkhQfpn9
Congress troll Rachit Seth “reminded” people that Vinod Rai and Anna Hazare “damaged the nation”. Essentially, he meant that Vinod Rai’s report on the 2G Spectrum allocation scam “damaged the nation” because it was false.
Never Forget How Anna Hazare & Vinod Rai damaged your Nation.
— Rachit Seth (@rachitseth) October 29, 2021
Another Congress troll said that Vinod Rai’s “unconditional apology” was not enough for misleading the nation. He even termed his CAG report an ‘anti-national act’.
Just a Question!
— Manoj Kumar Yadav (@itsmkyadav) October 29, 2021
Is an unconditional apology by #VinodRai for misleading the entire nation sufficient?
Wasn't it an #antinationa act of the man holding such an important & responsible chair?
There were 100s of other tweets from Congress leaders, trolls and supporters that used the apology by Vinod Rai to Sanjay Nirupam to insinuate that the 2G scam did not happen at all and that the apology exonerated Congress and former PM Manmohan Singh.
However, is that true? Does the apology by Vinod Rai exonerate Congress? Does it mean that Congress MPs actually did not pressurise him to leave Manmohan Singh’s name out of the report?
What former CAG Vinod Rai said in his apology to then Congress MP Sanjay Nirupam
Former CAG Vinod Rai had repeatedly said in 2014 and during the launch of his book that several Congress MPs had then pressurised him to keep former PM Manmohan Singh’s name out of the 2G Spectrum allocation report. In his affidavit, Rai said, “I made certain statements against Sanjay Nirupam particularly in 2014 subsequent to the launch of my book ‘Not just an Accountant: The Diary of the Nation’s Conscience Keeper’. I have realised that I had inadvertently and wrongly mentioned the name of Sanjay Nirupam as one of the MPs who pressurised me to keep the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s name out of the CAG report on 2-G Spectrum allocation during the meetings of the Public Accounts Committee and on the sidelines of the Joint Parliamentary Committee”.
Rai also apologised for the agony his remarks caused to Nirupam and his well-wishers. Nirupam had pressed defamation charges against Rai after the ex-CAG made references in respect of the Congress leader in his book and in media interviews that followed the launch of the book.
“Vinod Rai stands discharged in the case. His apology was accepted by Sanjay Nirupam and the matter was disposed of after recording Nirupam’s statement,” said RK Handoo, Nirupam’s lawyer.
Does the apology by Vinod Rai change anything? Does it exonerate Congress or former PM Manmohan Singh?
Congress trolls and leaders have come out of the woodworks after the apology from Vinod Rai. They have insinuated that Vinod Rai’s apology for taking Sanjay Nirupam’s name means that the entire 2G Spectrum allocation report had been discredited.
However, that is not the truth.
Vinod Rai said, in his apology, “I have realised that I had inadvertently and wrongly mentioned the name of Sanjay Nirupam as one of the MPs who pressurised me to keep the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s name out of the CAG report on 2-G Spectrum allocation during the meetings of the Public Accounts Committee and on the sidelines of the Joint Parliamentary Committee”.
Essentially, his apology meant that him taking Sanjay Nirupam’s name specifically was a mistake. However, he did not say that other Congress MPs did not pressurise him to keep former PM Manmohan Singh’s name out of the scam report.
He also did not say anything about retracting his findings of scam in the report that he had submitted, detailing the scam.
Therefore, it is inexplicable how Congress is spinning this as a “clean chit” to either Manmohan Singh and the Congress in the 2G scam and the coal scam. It also does not mean that other Congress MPs did not pressurise him to leave Manmohan Singh out of the report.
Interestingly, in 2017, a special CBI court had acquitted all accused, including former telecom minister A Raja and DMK MP Kanimozhi, in the 2G spectrum allocation scam cases. All of the 19 accused were acquitted of all charges in the Enforcement Directorate’s money laundering case which comes under the gamut of the 2G scam case.
Even then, the Congress and their sympathetic journalists had taken to Twitter to exonerate Congress and claim that the 2G scam did not happen at all.
However, the Supreme Court had in 2012 itself declared that the allocation of 2G spectrum by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government was “illegal” and was an example of the arbitrary exercise of power. It had then cancelled all 122 telecom licences allotted on or after January 10, 2008, to 11 companies during the tenure of the former telecom minister, A. Raja.
In this case, it was akin to saying that the murder did not occur simply because the accused was acquitted. Now, it is like saying that just because one lackey was named wrongly, the others did no wrong either. The 2G scam was pegged at Rs. 1.76 lac crores by former CAG Vinod Rai. In this case, it would seem like the loss is there, but Congress wants us to believe that nobody really committed the scam at all.
Congress is clearly desperate to wash away the Congress’ image of being corrupt, however, at this point, it would seem like the Congress is clutching on to straws.
