New Delhi:
Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy today rejected senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi's attack on Home Minister P Chidambaram on the issue of Comptroller and Auditor General's (CAG) indictment of his ministry for alleged favours to private firms, saying such attacks would harm decision making at higher levels.
Dismissing criticism by Mr Joshi, who is also the Chairman of Public Accounts Committe (PAC), and CPM leader Sitaram Yechuri as baseless, (Watch: Opposition steps on the gas) Mr Reddy said the leaked CAG report is a draft report to which the ministry will respond with an "open mind" in eight weeks time. "By making this criticism,I am afraid they are prejudicing the process of objective examination by CAG," Mr Reddy said.
The CAG after incorporating ministry's comment will table the final report in Parliament after which it will go to PAC. "Why should such a senior member of Parliament be in such a haste. It is not very edifying for a senior member like Joshi. He should leave the job to younger people in the party (BJP) and not indulge in this (kind of criticism)," Mr Reddy said.
Mr Joshi had taken strong exception to the leakage of the draft report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on Reliance Industries' gas operations to the media.
In a press conference on Friday, Mr Joshi had threatened to move a privilege motion and wanted to know how the CAG's draft report reached the media. "Has government probed? The suspicion is that it was leaked through the ministry... It is a privilege issue. We will consult constitutional experts," Mr Joshi said.
Joshi had attacked the government for alleged favours to companies like Reliance Industries and singled out Chidambaram, who was then Finance Minister, for the criticism. He had demanded Chidambram's removal from the Cabinet. "The government should clarify why the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) suddenly raised oil prices, and under whose pressure did the EGoM take such decisions?," Mr Joshi asked. (Watch: Joshi accuses Govt of promoting corruption)
The CAG draft report that was leaked said Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) was allowed to sell natural gas at $4.2 per unit when Public Sector Units were selling it at $1.8. The leaked draft also reported how the Director General of Hydrocarbons allowed RIL to increase capital expenditure from $2.4 billion to $8.8 billion adversely that resulted in revenue loss for the Government.
A separate report by senior income tax officials, accessed by NDTV, also warned the CBI in 2009 of a nexus between Reliance and bureaucrats in the Oil Ministry. The CBI was alerted, in this report, to the possibility that Reliance had bought a house for VK Sibal, the man who headed the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH), the technical arm of the Oil Ministry that supervises licenses and permissions for private operators.(Watch: Did the Petroleum Ministry bend rules favour Reliance)
(with PTI inputs)
Dismissing criticism by Mr Joshi, who is also the Chairman of Public Accounts Committe (PAC), and CPM leader Sitaram Yechuri as baseless, (Watch: Opposition steps on the gas) Mr Reddy said the leaked CAG report is a draft report to which the ministry will respond with an "open mind" in eight weeks time. "By making this criticism,I am afraid they are prejudicing the process of objective examination by CAG," Mr Reddy said.
The CAG after incorporating ministry's comment will table the final report in Parliament after which it will go to PAC. "Why should such a senior member of Parliament be in such a haste. It is not very edifying for a senior member like Joshi. He should leave the job to younger people in the party (BJP) and not indulge in this (kind of criticism)," Mr Reddy said.
Mr Joshi had taken strong exception to the leakage of the draft report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on Reliance Industries' gas operations to the media.
In a press conference on Friday, Mr Joshi had threatened to move a privilege motion and wanted to know how the CAG's draft report reached the media. "Has government probed? The suspicion is that it was leaked through the ministry... It is a privilege issue. We will consult constitutional experts," Mr Joshi said.
Joshi had attacked the government for alleged favours to companies like Reliance Industries and singled out Chidambaram, who was then Finance Minister, for the criticism. He had demanded Chidambram's removal from the Cabinet. "The government should clarify why the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) suddenly raised oil prices, and under whose pressure did the EGoM take such decisions?," Mr Joshi asked. (Watch: Joshi accuses Govt of promoting corruption)
The CAG draft report that was leaked said Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) was allowed to sell natural gas at $4.2 per unit when Public Sector Units were selling it at $1.8. The leaked draft also reported how the Director General of Hydrocarbons allowed RIL to increase capital expenditure from $2.4 billion to $8.8 billion adversely that resulted in revenue loss for the Government.
A separate report by senior income tax officials, accessed by NDTV, also warned the CBI in 2009 of a nexus between Reliance and bureaucrats in the Oil Ministry. The CBI was alerted, in this report, to the possibility that Reliance had bought a house for VK Sibal, the man who headed the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH), the technical arm of the Oil Ministry that supervises licenses and permissions for private operators.(Watch: Did the Petroleum Ministry bend rules favour Reliance)
(with PTI inputs)
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