Advertisment

PAC should not hold parallel probe: JPC chief

author-image
CIOL Bureau
New Update

NEW DELHI, INDIA: The chairman of the joint parliamentary panel probing the 2G spectrum allotment on Tuesday said the public accounts committee (PAC) investigating the corruptions scandal should limit itself to the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).

Advertisment

"Not only summoning the Prime Minister, but a roving inquiry by the PAC may not be necessary at this stage," JPC chief P.C. Chacko said in an interview to NDTV. He was answering a query if it would be right for the PAC to summon the country's top executive.

"Once it (JPC) is constituted, then another committee of the parliament need not go into the wider question of policy, implementation and its defects and shortcomings," he said. "I hope that in the coming days the PAC will confine itself to the limited inquiry into the CAG report."

The JPC was formed to end a parliament deadlock between the government and the opposition. The government auditor's report said second generation spectrum was sold by former IT and communications minister A. Raja at throwaway prices to telecom firms causing a loss of Rs.1.76 lakh crore to the exchequer.

Advertisment

Chacko pointed out that the opposition leaders had demanded a JPC as they felt that the scope of the PAC was limited.

Last week, CBI Director A.P. Singh appeared before PAC, which is separately probing the money trail of the kickbacks allegedly paid by some telecom firms to get 2G spectrum licences.

The PAC has so far had meetings with former telecom secretaries S.S. Behura and D.S. Mathur and former Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) chairman Pradip Baijal.

tech-news