Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: In a setback to Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee chairman Murli Manohar Johi, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar has sent back the draft report on the 2G spectrum scam, reports claimed Tuesday.
It was returned to the PAC chairman since it was not adopted by the committee – 11 out of the 21 members on the PAC had opposed the report.
The 270-page draft report had given a clean chit to Manmohan Singh but criticised the Prime Minister`s Office (PMO) for delaying a letter to A Raja asking him to consult senior ministers before selling the scarce and expensive telecom radiowaves.
Approving the findings of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report had blamed "systematic failure" in the government and severely indicted Raja, the then IT and communications minister, for allegedly selling second generation telephony spectrum licences to private firms at throwaway prices despite a letter from Manmohan Singh asking him to consult others, according to a panel member.
Joshi had submitted the report on April 30 even after 11 members rejected it. He insisted that the committee`s chairman had the right to submit the report and that there can be no voting in a parliamentary panel.
However, as per Parliament rules, a parliamentary committee report can be tabled only after it is approved by the panel that prepared it.
