New Delhi:
It's an all-out war now between the members of the Public Accounts Committee that's investigating the 2G scam. Chairman Murli Manohar Joshi has prepared a draft report that slams the Prime Minister's Office and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram. In retaliation, Congress and DMK members of the committee have demanded that he resign for acting like "a BJP man and not the Chairman of the committee". Senior Congress leader KS Rao said the report is "undemocratic" and aimed at destabilizing the government.
The 22 members of the committee are meant to meet tomorrow to discuss this draft report. Congress and DMK members say the draft was not given to them till earlier today, leaving them with little time to examine its findings.
But the headlines of the 270-page report are easy to spot. It finds "multiple systematic failure" in preventing Mr Raja from executing the swindle.
The report is tough on the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) which "either failed to see the forebodings or was rendered a mute spectator." In different places, the report suggests that not enough was done to stop A Raja from the DMK of abusing his office as Telecom Minister to blatantly violate guidelines while handing out spectrum and mobile network licenses at throwaway prices in 2008.
The draft says that Dr Manmohan Singh wanted to keep his office "at arm's length" from Mr Raja and that gave "an indirect green signal" to Mr Raja to "execute his unfair, arbitrary and dubious designs." As it became clear that Mr Raja was not following the process of allocation approved by the Union Cabinet, the PAC's report states that "what further irks the committee is the reply of the Prime Minister's Office that there is no specific requirement for the PMO to enforce cabinet decisions."
Mr Chidambaram, who was the Finance Minister at the time, fares even more poorly. The Public Accounts Committee draft report says that when it came clear that Mr Raja was not playing by the rules, Mr Chidambaram, "the guardian of the public exchequer...instead of initiating stringent and swift action against all those responsible for the whopping loss to the exchequer, pleaded with the Prime Minister to treat the matter as closed." Underscoring the point, the report states, "The committee is shocked and dismayed that the Finance Minister made a unique, condescending suggestion."
Mr Raja is severely indicted. "His assurance to the Prime Minister that he was not deviating from the established and existing procedures was a blatant lie."
In many ways, the destiny of the PAC was pre-ordained. Congress and DMK members have repeatedly said that the PAC is exceeding its mandate. They stress that a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) has been set up to investigate the scam and to assign accountability.
The Opposition has been demanding a detailed explanation of the Prime Minister's role. Evidence against Mr Raja suggests that he ignored the Prime Minister's advice to consult a senior group of ministers over how to allocate spectrum and how much to charge for it.
The current PAC's term expires on April 30. The new PAC will again be headed by Mr Joshi.