As the government scrapped the S-band spectrum allocation deal,Defence Minister A K Antony today said a "mistake" had been committed in reaching it as the Defence Ministry had not been consulted about the agreement which involved crucial asset of the security forces. He expressed confidence that in future the first priority would be given to security forces in allocation of such spectrum. "They have done some mistake. S-band is mainly for the strategic forces and in which our services - Army,navy,air force have got major stake," he told reporters. The defence minister said: S-Band spectrum is very precious asset for us." He said its "availability is limited" and has to be given to the armed forces,paramilitary and other strategic forces. "It is unfortunate that we were not consulted by those who took the decision, he said,adding,"In the future the first priority would be for strategic forces and strategic organisations." Antony said the Ministry of Defence and Services have got a major stake. "I hope their concerns would be properly addressed. I am confident about that." His remarks came hours after the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) annulled the controversial deal saying it was not in the strategic interest of the country. Commenting on Antony's remarks,Law Minister M Veerappa Moily said the "issues" raised by his Cabinet colleague "can be a subject matter" before the B K Chaturvedi Committee set up by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recently to look into various aspects of the S-Band allocation.
