New Delhi: The PAC, which is examining around
4,000 documents furnished by the PMO on correspondence between
it and ex-Telecom Minister A Raja on 2G spectrum allocation,
today said any decision on calling the Prime Minister will be
based on information and documents given to the panel.
"Let appropriate time come, we will decide and let you
know," Public Accounts Committee(PAC) Chairman Murli Manohar
Joshi told reporters here.
Asked repeatedly by when the Committee will decide on
calling Prime Minister Manmohan Singh before it, he said the
decision will be based on the "information we receive and
documents we study. Based on that we will take a decision."
To a question on BJP's stand that the PAC cannot call
the Prime Minister, he said the issue does not relate to
calling the PM before the Committee.
"The question is not to call the PM. He had volunteered
to appear before PAC. That is the issue," he said.
The Prime Minister's Office had in December last year
furnished around 4,000 documents relating to correspondence
between it and Raja on the controversial 2G spectrum issue.
The PAC had demanded for documents after Singh's
assertion that he had nothing to hide on the issue and Raja's
claim that he had kept the PM informed on his decisions on 2G
radiowave allocation.
The documents are from 2004 to 2010 and pertain to
correspondence betwqeen PMO and Raja, TRAI and the DoT.
"Studying the documents is a long process," a PAC
source said, adding that a lack of manpower was making the
process slow.
In December last year, Singh had written to the PAC
expressing his readiness to appear before it.
"...in view of recent propaganda that the Prime
Minister is unwilling to be questioned by a Parliamentary
committee, I would like to inform you that I am willing to
appear before the PAC should the Committee choose to seek
clarifications from the Prime Minister, though I believe there
is no precedent of the Prime Minister appearing before a PAC,"
Singh had said in his letter.
PTI
First Published: Friday, January 21, 2011, 21:18