By IANS,
New Delhi: Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairperson Murli Manohar Joshi Saturday submitted the committee’s draft report on the 2G spectrum allocation to the office of Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar and termed the report’s rejection by 11 members, mostly from ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA), as “unconstitutional”.
Talking to media persons after submitting the report, Joshi said he expected that it will be accepted by the speaker and tabled in parliament.
Asked if the report could be presented to the speaker before it is adopted by the PAC, Joshi said he had submitted the “finalised report” and it was for the speaker to take a decision on it.
Joshi, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP, said the report had not given clean chit to anybody and added that it had mentioned that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh remained a mute spectator as controversial decisions were taken regarding 2G spectrum allocation.
Terming rejection of the report by 11 members belonging to thye Congress, the DMK, the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party as “ridiculous”, the PAC chairman said it was done after the meeting had been adjourned by him.
“It is unconstitutional and ridiculous. I am worried. It is a mockery of democracy,” said Joshi, whose term as PAC chairman came to end Saturday.
Taking strong exception to the behaviour of ruling party members in the committee, Joshi said he was worried about democratic norms going for a hit.
He said that slips were being sent and phones were being made to ruling party members in the meeting and ministers were “behaving as puppeteers”.
“Will they (members) function like this? Will they work according to party directives? What is the purpose of having a parliamentary committee then? The purpose is to have a non-political way of working,” Joshi said.
He said it was natural for members to have differences on some points and there is a process to address any shortcomings in the report and to incorporate amendments.
Referring to allegations that the report had been outsourced, he said it amounted to questioning the Lok Sabha secretariat.
“If there are voices which talk about throwing PAC report in the dustbin, tomorrow there may be voices to put parliament resolutions or Supreme Court judgments in the dustbin,” he said.
Joshi also attacked the UPA government, saying that it talked of common man but its actions in probing corruption did not reflect that concern.
He said that there was a general consensus in the PAC that the report should be submitted by the end of April but the ruling party members started raising objections in the meeting April 15 when the principal secretary to the prime minister, cabinet secretary and the attorney general were to appear before the panel.
He said members even advised officials appearing before the panel not reply to the questions posed. “If a probe is stalled like that, then money that belongs to the poor will go into the pockets of the rich. It is an insult to the common man,” he said.
Joshi said that he will “continue to struggle” against corruption and go to people on the issue.
He said the report also lauds the government where it has done good work.
Joshi rejected charges that he had delayed circulation of the report and the document was long.
“If there are more scams, the report will be longer…members were involved in the process from the beginning. If they wanted, more time could have been spent debating it,” he said.
Asked why the committee had not asked former telecommunications minister A. Raja to appear before the panel, Joshi said the committee had got the relevant documents from the officials concerned.
As to why he rejected suggestions by some members to seek vote on the report, Joshi said there was a differing viewpoint as well and it was for the chairman to take a decision after taking a sense of the house.