2G scam: Decision on PM's appearance at PAC at an appropriate time, says Joshi

New Delhi: The monster 2G scam dominated the country's political agenda once again with two significant developments. Firstly, the Prime Minister put down in writing his offer to appear the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to answer questions about the 2G scam. He first suggested this at a Congress party conclave last week but was turned down by the Opposition - which says nothing less than a Joint Parliamentary Committee will do. The Congress rejected this demand once again on Monday.

And it's that stand-off over a JPC between the Opposition and the government that led to the other headline on the issue today - Speaker of the Lok Sabha Meira Kumar has called an all-party meeting in the hope of negotiating some sort of compromise.

In a letter to the BJP's Murli Manohar Joshi, who is the head of the Public Accounts Committee, Dr Manmohan Singh wrote, "...in view of recent propaganda that the Prime Minister is unwilling to be questioned by a Parliamentary committee, I would like to inform you that I am willing to appear before the PAC should the Committee choose to seek clarifications from the Prime Minister, though I believe there is no precedent of the Prime Minister appearing before a PAC."

Mr Joshi says a decision on the PM's appearance will be taken later "at an appropriate time." The existing guidelines for the Lok Sabha state that the PAC "cannot call a minister to give evidence or for consultations in connection with the examination of accounts by it. The chairman of the committee, however, may have an informal talk with a minister on the subject under consideration by the committee."  Since the Prime Minister's offer is unprecedented in its nature, the Speaker may have to devise a procedure on how the committee could accept the Prime Minister's offer of appearing before it.

Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj has a different take on this. Her post on Twitter says, "Under the Lok Sabha Rules, the PAC cannot call a minister, much less the Prime Minister. Prime Minister's offer, therefore, has no meaning. The scope of PAC is totally different from that of JPC. While PAC deals with accounts, JPC deals with accountability and governance."

Swaraj, along with BJP leader Arun Jaitley, had said earlier that the PM cannot choose which forum he will appear at to address concerns about what's described as India's largest-ever scam. They say that unless the PM sanctions a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), they will not allow Parliament to function during the Budget session in February. A similar stand by the BJP and other Opposition parties led to less than 10 hours of business during the Winter Session, which concluded earlier this month.

Mr Joshi and his Public Accounts Committee met with Vinod Rai, the Comptroller and Auditor General, this morning. Mr Joshi said that Mr Rai helped the PAC understand the basis of his report as well as the many technicalities involved. (Read: CAG appears before Public Accounts Committee)

The Opposition contends that the PAC's scope of inquiry is limited to the contents of the Comptroller and Auditor General's report on the 2G scam. This report, submitted last month, nailed DMK leader A Raja for deliberately undervaluing 2G spectrum to favour companies in January 2008. The loss, according to the government's auditor, could be up to Rs 1.76 lakh crore. That report led to Raja's resignation as Telecom Minister.

But the BJP has vowed to target the PM in a series of rallies that it promises will be one part of an anti-corruption campaign. By allowing Raja to circumvent the rules, the Opposition says, the PM was tolerant of corruption. They say that a JPC - which will consist of different political parties - is required so that it can look into not just financial wrong-doing, but other issues like whether corporate lobbyists influenced government formation.  

Those charges stem from what's referred to as "the Radia tapes". In 2008 and then again in 2009, the phones of PR executive Niira Radia were tapped as part of an income tax investigation. Radia represents some of India's biggest business leaders like Ratan Tata and Mukesh Ambani. On the phone, she is allegedly heard campaigning for A Raja to return as Telecom Minister after the UPA won the general elections in 2009. Radia allegedly worked with Raja to ensure her telecom clients benefitted from his office. These and other accusations are being investigated by the CBI, which has recently raided the homes and offices of both Raja and Radia. (With PTI inputs)