Author: PNS
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: April 30, 2011
URL: http://www.dailypioneer.com/335419/Joshi-keeps-cards-close-to-his-chest.html
May submit report to Speaker today
The suspense over fate of the draft PAC report
on 2G spectrum scam, which virtually blamed the Prime Minister for inaction,
has spilled over into the next day amid indications that its chairman Murli
Manohar Joshi would submit the report to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar on
Saturday, the last day of the existing committee.
Joshi kept his cards close to his chest throughout
Friday, studying pros and cons of tabling the report despite 11 out of 21
members of the panel 'rejecting' it. Seven Congress MPs, two of the DMK and
once each from the SP and BSP had 'replaced' Joshi with Rajya Sabha MP Saifuddin
Soz as the PAC 'chairman' in 'mock proceedings' on Thursday. A motion to reject
the report was subsequently put to vote in absence of the opposition MPs and
11 MPs of the ruling side combined with SP and BSP members supported it.
Sources close to Joshi claimed he discussed
the future course of action with MPs belonging to his party, the Janata Dal
(United) and Biju Janata Dal and he was also "almost convinced"
about going ahead with his plans to submit the report to the Speaker.
Meanwhile, launching a scathing attack on
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and then Finance Minister P Chidambaram, PAC
member and former Union Minister Yashwant Sinha on Friday accused them of
'direct complicity' in the 2G scam and claimed that Singh was in know of at
least nine out of ten decisions taken by former Telecom Minister A Raja, which
caused a monumental loss to public exchequer.
"I am charging the Prime Minister with
direct complicity in this matter. I am charging (then) Finance Minister (Chidambaram)
with direct complicity. They have not only not done their constitutional duty
but willy-nilly they have become a party to this scam," Sinha, who is
a PAC member, said.
Sinha alleged, "There was complete abdication
of responsibility by the Prime Minister. In India's history there is no precedent
of this kind. Nine out of ten decisions taken by (then Telecom Minister) A
Raja were in the knowledge of the Prime Minister. Whether he calls it coalition
dharma or this or that dharma."
The BJP said the PAC proceedings held with
Congress member Saifuddin Soz in the chair held no significance. "Since
yesterday a canard has been spread that Joshi ran away from the meeting. It
is on record that he had adjourned the meeting," Sinha said.
He maintained that as per rules, Soz could
not have chaired a PAC meeting as only a Lok Sabha member from the main opposition
can hold the chair of this committee. Soz is a Congress member from the Rajya
Sabha.
At the same time, Joshi, who was accused of
'outsourcing' the draft report, is reportedly trying to find out the basis
of allegations that the report was prepared outside Parliament. Traditionally,
Parliament's secretariat prepares a draft report, gives it to the chairman
of the related committee to suggest changes required and is then distributed
to members for consideration and recommend amendments.
The Lok Sabha speaker is on tour of Arunachal
Pradesh and is expected to be in the national capital on Saturday. Joshi,
sources claimed, would then brief her about the developments of the Thursday
meeting, unsubstantiated allegations against him, his comments on those allegations
and would finally submit the report.
"Rules do not prevent him (Joshi) from
submitting the report. As far as 11 MPs rejecting it is concerned, it all
happened after Joshi adjourned the meting and it has no more than a comic
value," source said.
Meanwhile, Home Minister P Chidambaram lashed
out at Joshi, who was planning to push forward his controversial report. Chidambaram,
who had come in for criticism in the draft report of the 21-member parliamentary
committee on spectrum allocation, accused the veteran BJP leader of "gross
distortion" of his role as Finance Minister in 2008.
The PAC report said that the then Finance
Minister had pleaded with Manmohan Singh to treat the matter of spectrum fee
as closed. The Home Minister lost no time in attacking Joshi's draft which
he said was a "gross distortion" of his note of Jan 15 of 2008 because
it had "mischievously" commented that he had pleaded that the matter
be closed.
