Fresh war of words in JPC over calling PM

A fresh war of words erupted in JPC examining 2G scam with chairman P C Chacko today rubbishing as a "political stunt" a demand by BJP that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh depose before it.

Chacko questioned BJP member Yashwant Sinha's letter to the Prime Minister asking him to appear before the committee in the light of former Telecom Minister A Raja's "serious allegations" against him.

A day after asking Singh to appear before the JPC to "clear" his name, Sinha alleged today that Raja was being prevented from deposing as it would lead to "serious trouble" for the Prime Minister and Finance Minister P Chidambaram.

Slamming Sinha's action, Chacko told PTI, "How can a member of the JPC write a letter to the Prime Minister? It is for the committee to take a decision. It is only a political stunt and against norms of Parliamentary procedure."

Chacko said Sinha's letter has "no relevance" as decisions including calling a minister have to be taken by the committee and "not individuals."

When pointed out that Sinha has asked the Prime Minister to volunteer himself as a witness before JPC, Chacko said, "even if the Prime Minister wants he cannot appear before the JPC. That's the norm which applies to all of us."

Sinha's demand was supported by his party, with spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman questioning the resistance by the Congress and the government to any move to call the Prime Minister and Chidambaram besides Raja before the JPC.

Raja has been repeatedly requesting the JPC to call him for deposition. After being denied the opportunity, he wrote to the committee last month, saying the Prime Minister was in the loop over decisions taken regarding the controversial allocation of 2G spectrum in 2008. @Body:

Chacko contended that even if the JPC wants, it cannot call a minister as a witness till a unanimous resolution was passed. "The resolution will then have to be sent to the (Lok Sabha) Speaker who will take a decision."

He said after completing deposition by witnesses, the JPC members had authorised him to write the draft report. "Once the report is ready, we will meet to discuss it," he said.

Sinha, who along with other five BJP members had boycotted JPC proceedings last year for some time to press for calling the Prime Minister, wrote to Singh yesterday, saying that he should appear before the JPC so that "the truth comes out".

He alleged that, "If Raja presents his side of the story, then the Prime Minister and Finance Minister will be in serious trouble and to save them from this situation the JPC Chairman is not calling Raja."

Sinha also raised serious objections over not convening of the JPC meeting for two months.

To justify his demand, he said the Prime Minister had offered to appear before Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) when it was examining 2G scam and he should not hesitate from deposing before JPC.

Rejecting this contention, Chacko said, "Despite the Prime Minister's willingness to appear before PAC, why was he not called? Sinha ji should ask this question to the PAC Chairman (Murli Manohar Joshi)."

Sinha described the functioning of the JPC as "scandalous" and said any hesitation on the Prime Minister's part to appear before JPC will prove that he has "something to hide".

Sinha said Raja has cast serious aspersions on the conduct of the Prime Minister, Chidambaram and on the evidence presented before the JPC by Attorney General G E Vahanvati.

"We will not be able to arrive at the truth and the whole effort will be wasted in concealing the truth," he said.

Commenting on Sinha's action, Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari dubbed Sinha's demand as "completely preposterous".