The JPC's purview has now been pushed back to 1998, the year when the BJP-led NDA came to power.
The move is expected to steal the thunder from the BJP, which has been leading the opposition demand for a JPC to probe violations and procedures by the UPA in allocating 2G spectrum in 2007-08.
The Congress has been hitting back saying violations have also happened during the NDA regime, alleging that it had brought several changes to telecom policies and awarded licenses before it was voted out of office in 2004.
The National Telecom Policy (NTP), framed by the NDA in 1999, called for a revenue sharing model from the fixed license fee in existence before. The policy envisaged one-time entry fee and a license fee based on revenue sharing.
The UPA points to this policy shift as the major reason for corruption in telecom sector and the root cause of the erosion of revenue for the government.
Amidst vehement denials by the BJP, the one-man commission under former Supreme Court judge Justice Shivraj Patil -Constituted by Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal to examine spectrum allocation from 2001- mentioned that there had been violations in issuing 2G licenses in 2003. The committee determined that internal policies the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) and government had adopted since 2001 were not in tune with the extant policies and directions of the government, handing Congress much-needed ammunition to attack the BJP in the JPC probe.
Based on Patil committee finding that 25 specific instances of deviation, inappropriate application and violation of underlying principles of laid down procedure happened between 2001-09, the UPA would like to corner the BJP by pointing at faults during the NDA regime.