By IANS,
New Delhi : The Congress Friday said it had warned earlier of an overlap in the functions of the parliamentary panels – Public Accounts Committee and Joint Parliamentary Committee – probing the 2G telecom scam, after PAC proceedings witnessed heated arguments.
The Congress said that heads of the committees have to sort out jurisdiction issues.
“No question of us commenting on individual members. It is for members and the chairman of the committee to resolve themselves, or for the speaker to intervene,” Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said. He was responding to a question about the Congress and DMK members raising the issue of jurisdiction during a PAC meeting.
Singhvi said when the opposition was pressing its demand for a JPC, the Congress had warned that it could lead to multiplicity and overlap. “But they were accusing us of obduracy… The matter has come full circle now,” the Congress spokesperson told reporters.
The PAC proceedings Friday saw heated arguments, which forced Central Bureau of Investigation director A.P. Singh and Attorney General G.N. Vahanvati to return without appearing before the panel.
The scheduled deposition of senior officials in the Prime Minister’s Office before the PAC Saturday has also been cancelled.
The UPA government had initially opposed the demand for a JPC probe into the 2G scam, which caused the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party to stall the winter session of parliament.
The government finally gave in to the opposition’s demand before parliament’s budget session.