Bowing to the wishes of the party, Murli Manohar Joshi has decided not to pursue the probe by the public accounts committee (PAC) into the 2G scam aggressively. Instead of probing the Rs 1.76 lakhs crore scam, the PAC chairman has opted to look into a report relating to health mission at the next hearing of the apex body of parliament.

Highly placed sources in the PAC said that the next meeting of the committee is slated to be held on January 12 and it will not take up the 2G scam. Joshi was not immediately available to comment on the development. However, sources close to Joshi say that he will return to the capital on January 10. The sources also point out that he has decided to be away from the capital and will celebrate his birthday tomorrow with his constituents in Varanasi.

The leaders of the BJP and its allies have been publicly expressing the view that Joshi should not vigorously hold meetings of the PAC on the 2G scam particularly when the entire opposition including the Left parties have been at the loggerheads with the UPA government on the formation of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC). But Dr Joshi initially ignored these suggestions and went ahead saying that the PAC under him had been seized of the 2G scam since June 30 last year. He had held several meetings of the PAC and even got all the vital documents too.  The opposition woke up only in the winter session to demand the JPC all of a sudden and he as chairman of the PAC won’t play the partisan role.

When the PM offered to appear before the PAC rather than conceding the demand for a JPC, matters came to a head. Sources say that BJP president Nitin Gadkari spoke to Joshi urging him to keep the sentiments of the opposition in mind while conducting proceedings of the PAC.

It is learnt that the veteran BJP leader decided not to cross the Lakshman Rekha. The first signal came when the PAC did not take any decision on the PM’s offer to appear before the committee in the 2G scam on December 27. Instead, Joshi put up the PM’s letter before the 22-member body for consideration. The decision was deferred.

Sources say that Joshi was extremely upset that certain BJP leaders tried to paint a picture that there is a conflict of interests between the PAC and the JPC.

Joshi had told a newspaper earlier that neither he was pursuing the 2G probe aggressively or vigorously. “I was doing my job as PAC chairman and held more than two dozen meetings,” he had said.

But things seem to have changed with the advent of new year. Of course, the Congress will have to take Joshi’s decision with a pinch of salt as several of its members in the PAC had hoped that “the PAC chairman will maintain the dignity of the Constitutional committee in the interest of democracy.”

The Congress had reacted after Joshi had said to the media in the wake of mounting pressure that "as a member of BJP" he is in favour of a JPC into the 2G spectrum issue. But insisted that the PAC he heads has "vast powers" in bringing greater accountability in public spending.  It indicated that he will go ahead with the 2G probe at the PAC. However, he chose to play safe for the time being.