Telecom Secy, TRAI chief to appear before JPC

R Chandrashekhar and J S Sarma to be questioned by JPC

PTI | May 18, 2011



The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probing the 2G scam will question Telecom Secretary R Chandrashekhar, TRAI Chairman J S Sarma and top officials of some other departments over the next two days with regard to the telecom licencing and related issues.

Meeting for the second time after it was set up in February, the JPC headed by senior Congress leader PC Chacko will examine thoroughly the telecom policy that has been in place since 1998 and may go even beyond, sources told PTI.

Chandrashekhar and Sarma, as also the top officials of the Enforcement Directorate and Revenue Department, who will appear before the 30-member committee, are expected to be asked how the telecom licence policy had been implemented since 1998 and whether there had been any irregularities, the sources said.

The Committee is also expected to examine whether the telecom policy with regard to spectrum allocation had been sound or there were some lacunae that needed to be plugged.

"It has to be a comprehensive review of the telecom policy over 10 years," a source said on the eve of the meeting.

"The focus will be on examining whether licence procedures have been followed, if licences have been issued on merit and discuss whether licences should be cancelled, in case any irregularity was found," the source said.

The Committee, which is keen to complete its work by August-end, is also expected to summon various other persons linked to the spectrum issue.

Summoning of former Telecom Minister A Raja, a key player in the alleged 2G scam who is now in jail, and top executives of the beneficiary companies is also not ruled out.

"We will have to summon anybody connected with the issue (2G sepctrum allocation)," the source said.

The JPC may also consider setting up a technical committee to quantify the loss that has been caused by the 2G spectrum allocation. This is necessitated by the fact that various agencies like CAG, CBI and CVC and the Parliament's Public Accounts Committee have given different estimates ranging from Rs 20,000 crore to Rs 1.90 lakh crore.

The JPC was set up after intense and sustained demands by the Opposition for such a Committee to probe the 2G scam.
 

Comments

 

Other News

How Rafi, Raj Kapoor helped pave the way for a great uranium deal

There`s a certain moment in diplomacy that`s too personal to be captured in a communiqué, too small to make the front page, but more revealing than the front page. This week, prime minister Narendra Modi reached Tashkent and, amid the pomp of state visits, managed to evoke the old Bollywood tunes

Distinguishing Fish 1 and Fish 2: The pragmatism behind India’s WTO ratification

 India became the 123rd WTO member to ratify the multilateral Agreement on Fisheries subsidies (AoFS) when it deposited the Instrument of Acceptance for Phase 1 on July 20, 2026. The ratification is restricted to disciplining Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing (IUU), protection for overfished

The 7% growth problem: Why the next 7% will be harder

India has become accustomed to hearing the 7% growth number. It is now less a milestone than an expectation. Yet the paradox is becoming clearer: maintaining 7% growth may be considerably harder than achieving it once. India’s real GDP grew 7.7% in FY2025–26, following growth of 6.5% in FY202

The Constitution cannot be altered: Justice Abhay Oka

Justice Abhay Oka, who retired from the Supreme Court in May 2025, has said that the Constitution of India cannot be altered. Explaining the landmark Kesavananda Bharati judgment (1973) on the basic structure of the Constitution, he said, “This is one judgment that has saved democracy in India.&rdq

How the flora and fauna evolved in the Indian subcontinent

Mammals of India  By A.J.T. Johnsingh and P.O. Nameer HarperCollins India in association with Bombay Natural History Society  

India`s renewable race is moving beyond megawatts

When Shell bought Sprng Energy in 2022, India`s renewable energy market appeared to offer precisely what global energy majors were seeking: scale, growth and a place in one of the world`s largest energy transitions. Four years later, Shell is selling the same business to Aditya Birla Group for an enterpris

Upcoming Conferences



-->

Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter