PM offers to appear before PAC
PTI
NEW DELHI, DEC 27
Injecting a new element in Opposition-Government standoff, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday wrote to Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee offering to appear before it on the 2G spectrum scam and the BJP leader, who heads the committee, has not ruled out accepting it.
Following up on his public statement last week at the Congress Plenary, Singh sent a letter to PAC Chairman Murli Manohar Joshi said he was willing to appear before the PAC should the Committee choose to seek clarifications from him “though I believe there is no precedent of the Prime Minister appearing before a PAC”.
Joshi, the BJP veteran who does not seem to be very enthusiastic about the campaign for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the issue, appeared not disinclined to accept the Prime Minister’s offer.
If the PAC accepts the offer, it will be the first time a Prime Minister would be appearing before the Committee, which has MPs from both the Houses belonging to parties of the ruling coalition and the opposition.
The 22-member Committee has 10 MPs belonging to Congress and DMK of the UPA coalition, while the rest are from SP and BSP.
In Monday’s meeting, Congress members reportedly insisted that the PAC should call him for “consultations” accepting his offer. But non-UPA members including Yashwant Sinha (BJP) and N K Singh JD(U) are believed to have cited rules and procedures to claim that they do not permit the Prime Minister’s appearance before the Committee.
Joshi also pressed ahead with the probe at a meeting of the Committee which heard Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai on the 2G issue on Monday.
“The PAC has no power to summon any minister. But this case is different because the Prime Minister has himself offered to appear. This is not a case of summons,” he told a press conference after the day’s proceedings.
Joshi said the PAC will take an “appropriate decision at an appropriate time” on Singh’s offer after going through rules and procedures and in accordance with them.
In his letter to Joshi, Singh said that he was making the offer in view of the recent “propaganda” that the Prime Minister was unwilling to be questioned by a Parliamentary Committee.
Under Lok Sabha’s Rules of Procedure and Conduct, the PAC or the Estimates Committee cannot summon a Minister. Under rule 99 of the Speaker’s Directions, the Chairman of a Committee can have an informal discussion with the Minister.
This rule was made 40 years ago when the late C Subramaniam, a Minister, was summoned by the PAC for giving evidence.
In case, the PAC accepts the Prime Minister’s offer, the Chairman may have to consult the Speaker before actually calling the Prime Minister, though it is a voluntary offer and not a summons.
Joshi appeared to be in a mood to press ahead with the job of inquiring into the controversial spectrum allocation.
However, he dismissed suggestions that the Committee was going ahead with the inquiry into the 2G scam “expeditiously”.
“We are not rushing through it. We are working as per schedule,” he said.
On the need for a JPC, the demand for which is being spearheaded by his party, Joshi said PAC cannot comment on anything a government can do or not do. “That does not come within our purview,” he said.
Asked whether the PAC could go into the issue of telecom licences from 2001 covering the NDA period, the former Union minister said “If it is required we will ask for it. At present we are going into the recent development of 2G and 3G. If needed we can go into the past. There are no hurdles in doing that.”
“There are no restrictions that we should limit ourselves to the CAG report. CAG report is an aid to the PAC. PAC is independent in itself to probe. CAG report is an expert advise for us. We value it. If necessary we can go beyond it. If necessary, we can ask it to probe further.”
