2G verdict not a 'badge of honour' for Congress, says Jaitley

Slamming the Congress for celebrating the 2G verdict, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said that the judgment was not a proof of UPA's innocence and should in no way be treated as a "badge of honour."

"The Congress party leaders are treating this verdict as a badge of honour and a certification that the 2G allocation policy was an honest policy. It was a corrupt policy and this was upheld by the Supreme Court," Jaitley told mediapersons.

The finance minister said that the UPA government led by Congress had in the year 2007 and 2008,



gave out 2G spectrum neither by auction nor by market mechanism but on the basis of price discovery that was made in 2001.

"In 2007 2008 spectrum was being allocated by UPA on basis of 2001 prices. Even within the policy implementation there was huge element of arbitrariness. The cutoff date was advanced and the first come, first serve policy favoured only a selected few," said Jaitley.

"Even this was changed and converted to first come, first pay policy and the favoured chosen few were informed in advance about the changem" he added.