Ex-ISRO chief can't dictate to government: Congress

Pakistan Telegraph (IANS) Sunday 5th February, 2012

The Congress Sunday said former Indian space agency chief G. Madhavan Nair was free to criticise the twin probe reports on the multi-billion dollar Antrix-Devas spectrum deal indicting him and three others, but "nobody has the right to dictate to the government".

"Mr. Nair is free to disagree and criticise. But nobody has the right to dictate to the government," Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi told reporters here.

"It's not for a political party to comment on largely legal matters. It is between the government and Mr. Nair. It is not that it is a knee-jerk reaction of the government. The government had set up a very high power committee and its report is in the public domain," he added.

A five-member team that probed the controversial Antrix-Devas deal has indicted former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman G. Madhavan Nair and three other scientists for the controversial contract that resulted in an estimated loss of Rs.2 lakh crore, while another panel has disputed the Comptroller and Auditor General's (CAG) estimation of the loss amount.

However, Nair slammed the twin probe reports, saying they were "one-sided and without all facts".