'Probe finds procedural lapses in 2G scam'

NEW DELHI, INDIA: A one-man independent committee probe into India's telecom scandal has found many procedural lapses in grant of telecom licenses, Telecoms Minister Kapil Sibal said on Friday.

The lapses were found since the tenure of the previous government, Sibal told reporters.

An independent probe found officials had violated rules or did nothing to prevent irregularities during the grant of telecoms licences and spectrum, after a government auditor estimated potential revenue loss of up to $39 billion due to below-market price sale of licences and spectrum in 2007-08.

Former Supreme Court judge Shivaraj Patil who was probing if the telecoms ministry had followed rules in granting licences and radio spectrum between 2001 and 2009 submitted his report to Sibal this week, but details had not been made public.