Joshi's report on 2G scuttled at PAC meet

Congress opposed, but BJP, BSP, DMK supported

PTI | June 28, 2011



An attempt by Murli Manohar Joshi to make the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) take up his controversial report on the 2G scam prepared during the tenure of the last committee was on Tuesday strongly opposed by Congress members but the NDA along with DMK and BSP supported its consideration.

In view of the divisions in the PAC, it was decided that constitutional experts would be consulted on whether the report, which was recently returned by speaker Meira Kumar, can be considered by it.

Kumar had returned the report to Joshi, who was reappointed as chairman in May, suggesting that it was an "unfinished work" as it was not supported by the entire PAC, whose term ended on April 30.

During the PAC meeting today, Joshi, a veteran BJP leader, wanted to take up the 2G scam report. At this, Congress member Jayanti Natarajan intervened to raise a point of order, sources said.

Joshi disallowed Natarajan from raising it but she, along with party colleagues K Sudhakaran, Sanjay Nirupam, Girija Vyas and K S Rao, were of the opinion that the 2G report should not be taken up by the current PAC as the matter was before a joint parliamentary committee, the sources said.

On the other hand, NDA members wanted circulation of the report for consideration. Interestingly, DMK and BSP members also favoured it, apparently reflecting the current ties with with Congress.

BSP member Satish Chandra Mishra is understood to have said that members would be in a position to comment on it only after reading it.

DMK member Adhi Sankar, whose party had earlier opposed Joshi's report, wanted the PAC to call more witnesses in connection with the 2G scam issue.

BJD member Bhartruhari Mahtab is learnt to have said that the Speaker, while returning the report, had neither given any specific directions to the PAC, nor rejected it.

He pointed out that the Speaker, in her letter to the PAC Chairman, had referred to the document as a "draft report".

Natarajan also sought to know from Joshi on what basis had he written to the Speaker about the "unruly behaviour" of the Congress members during the PAC meeting on April 28.

The PAC meeting on April 28 had descended into chaos after the UPA managed to secure the support of BSP and SP to obtain a surprising majority which "rejected" the draft report on the 2G scam that was sharply critical of prime minister, his office and others.

Joshi had then sent the report speaker Meira Kumar along with a covering letter detailing the sequence of events during the meeting.

The speaker had returned the draft report, saying it had not been adopted by the panel.

Comments

 

Other News

Master sculptor recalls the making of the Shankaracharya statue

The Golden Chisel: The Story Behind the Making of Ram Lalla  By Seethalakshmi S. and Rahul Nandan Rupa Publications, 168 pages, Rs 395  

Mumbai’s missing affordable homes

Mumbai’s real estate market keeps growing, yet homeownership remains out of reach for much of its population. Three experts – urban researcher Hussain Indorewala, urban planner Vidyadhar Phatak and developer Kamlesh Thakur of NAREDCO Maharashtra, agree that simply constructing more apartments

Rubio denies US foreknowledge of Starlink restrictions in Ukraine

US secretary of state Marco Rubio has said he was unfamiliar with the Wall Street Journal report suggesting Elon Musk had decided to throttle Starlink services in Ukraine, but rejected claims that Washington had ordered the restrictions to pressure Kyiv.   “There was no

Can AI change India’s breast cancer story?

Breast cancer has become a public-health challenge in India. The greatest opportunity is to find cancers earlier. Artificial intelligence (AI) is opening a new era in breast cancer detection. AI systems can analyse mammograms and other breast-imaging studies, identify subtle abnormalities and assist radi

Farm stability in the time of climate change

Indian agriculture is experiencing significant climate volatility, while the world economy seems to be in a highly volatile situation. Economic indices from various countries show that they need to recalibrate their strategies to withstand economic headwinds. In such a challenging situation, a country li

El Niño threatens India’s Rabi crops

India’s southwest monsoon ended with a 13% rainfall deficit in 2026, its weakest performance in a decade, raising concerns over agricultural production, water security and the upcoming rabi season. With El Niño expected to persist into early 2027, experts warn that declining soil moisture, dep

Upcoming Conferences



-->

Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter