A Joint Parliamentary Committee to probe the 2G spectrum allocation issue, being dubbed by the opposition as the biggest scam in independent India, was set up today amid charges and countercharges between the government and the opposition.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee moved the motion for appointment of the 30-member Committee to look into the telecom policy pursued from 1998 to 2009 including the allocation and pricing of telecom licences and spectrum.

The Committee will also examine "irregularities and aberrations, if any" and the consequences thereof in the implementation of government decisions and policy prescriptions.

The Committee, which will give its report by the end of the Monsoon session of Parliament, will make recommendations to ensure formulation of appropriate procedures for implementation of laid down policy in the allocation and pricing of telecom licences.

Constitution of the JPC, with 20 members from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha, formally ends the deadlock over the issue which had washed out the entire Winter session of Parliament.

The debate on the setting up of the JPC led to a clash between the government and the opposition with the Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj making a frontal attack on the Congress-led coalition for conceding the demand after a long time.

Moving the motion, Mukherjee said that lessons needed to be drawn by all concerned from the deadlock, suggesting that it was dangerous for democracy that Parliament cannot function till you concede to a particular demand.

"Parliament cannot be mortgaged to the conceding of a demand," he said warning if "hatred and disrespect for parliamentary institutions was generated, it would lead to the rise of extra-constitutional authorities" as had happened in a neighbouring country way back in 1958 when Martial Law was imposed.

At the outset, Mukherjee admitted his responsibility as Leader of the House for failing to carry the opposition with him on the issue.

He, however, said the NDA refused a JPC on Tehelka expose and the then Minister Arun Jaitley had said that a group of MPs sitting in a JPC cannot substitute discussion and debate on the floor of the House.

While Swaraj was critical of Mukherjee for dubbing opposition as "Maoists", the Leader of the House said the Left radicals dub Parliament as an "abode of pigs" and therefore wanted all concerned to act responsibly.

"Was our demand (for JPC) violent or unconstitutional," Swaraj sought to know from Mukherjee, referring to him at the same time as a very nice person who fails to distinguish between proper and improper when he gets angry.

Sibal said if one looked into the history of BJP, one will find that whenever that party got an opportunity to attack constitutional authority, it had done so.

He said as per an estimate of CAG, during the NDA regime there was a loss of Rs 12,214 crore to the exchequer due to the allocation of spectrum

Referring to his earlier press statement where he had dismissed the suggestion of the CAG that there was a presumptive loss of Rs 1,76,000 crore, Sibal said he said so because for allocation of spectrum of 6.2 Mhz, government had never charged any money from any telecom companies till 2003 as the spectrum was given free along with the licence.

He said the first-come first-serve policy was initiated by the NDA government and questioned who should be sent to jail -- like former Telecom Minister A Raja -- for alleged irregularities during the NDA government.

" ... if Raja gave spectrum free, he is a criminal. And, if their (NDA) minister did so, he is not," he argued.

When the opposition members strongly protested Sibal's statement, RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav said there was no point for a debate as the JPC has already been constituted.

Sibal then said he raised these matters as Swaraj cited several issue like alleged scams in Commonwealth Games and Adarsh Housing Society and hence he was "duty bound" to respond to the allegations.

Taking strong objection to Swaraj's allegation that the Prime Minister admitted compromising on corruption, Sibal said he had never said so.

"The Prime Minister has never said that government compromised on corruption. What he had said there was compulsion of coalition," he said.

Amidst repeated disruption and uproar in the House, senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh dismissed Sibal's suggestion that the government had no say on the CAG report and said drafts of the CAG reports are always submitted to the government.

He said the Minister has "overstretched" the point and favoured the JPC probe to cover since 1998. "Let it be examined from 1998," he said.

Singh also said that he was very sad that one of his former colleagues -- A Raja -- had been sent to jail.

When Sibal reiterated his charge against the NDA regime which adopted the first come first serve policy, an angry BJP leader Yashwant Sinha asked the leader of the House to withdraw the resolution.

"I request the Leader of the House to take back the resolution on JPC. We don't want JPC, we don't want charity - 'Kiya hum bhikh maang rahe hain?'," Sinha said

Raising a point of order, Sinha said since the matter (2G case) is before the Public Accounts Committee, the minister should not start discussion on the issue in the House.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said, "There is a consensus resolution. The debate was to explain the background."

"What happened in the Winter session, should not be repeated. There was no point elaborating issues. Unfortunately it has happened," he added.

Supporting the constitution of JPC, Sharad Yadav (JD-U) said, "It is possible that there is no corruption in 2G Spectrum allocation."

"If you (Sibal) are confident then you should resign because whatever happened is not correct, a minister had to resign and went to jail," he said.

RJD leader Lalu Prasad questioned as to who had decided the terms of reference of the JPC and said it should have been decided jointly.

Taking a dig at senior BJP leader L K Advani, the RJD supremo said his apology to Congress President Sonia Gandhi over the allegation of her Swiss bank account had "punctured" the BJP.

Prasad demanded that the Nira Radia tapes brought out by a news magazine should be made a part of the terms of reference of the JPC.

CPI(M) leader Basudeb Acharia said the demand for JPC is made in only very rare cases. "This scam has wide ramifications. That is why all parties are demanding JPC," he said.

On the PM's statement on coalition politics, he said, "Where was coalition dharma when 61 members of Left parties were providing you outside support and despite their opposition you went ahead and signed the Indo-US nuclear deal?"

Sudip Bandhopadhyay (Trinamool Congress), Pinaki Misra (BJD), Revati Raman Singh (SP) and Dara Singh Chauhan (BSP) also spoke in favour of the JPC.