No interference in 2G probe: Finance Ministry

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Refuting the allegations of interference in 2G spectrum allocation scam probe, the Finance Ministry said on Tuesday it had never instructed the director of enforcement "to scuttle investigations".

"It is categorically denied that any such instruction has either been given by anyone in finance minister's office to the director of enforcement or that such instruction has been passed down by the director of enforcement to any officer dealing with the 2G scam," the ministry said in a statement.

Reports in a section of media said that an officer from the finance minister's office has instructed the Director of Enforcement "to scuttle investigations" into the spectrum allocation scam.

"The allegation is totally baseless and without foundation, since this investigation is being done jointly by the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) and the Directorate of Enforcement under the close and regular supervision of the Supreme Court," it said.

Meanwhile, the CBI Tuesday filed in the Supreme Court its fresh status report on the allotment of second generation (2G) spectrum and said the matter was under investigation.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has estimated that the 2G scam caused a presumptive loss of Rs.1.76 lakh crore to the exchequer and has submitted a detailed report in the scam.

Former communications minister A. Raja, former telecom secretary Siddharth Behura and Raja's former personal secretary R.K. Chandolia were arrested Feb 2, and Shahid Balwa, managing director of DB Realty Feb 18 for their suspected role in the allocation of airwaves for 2G phone services, billed as one of the country's biggest corruption scandals.