New Delhi/ Thrissur: The turf war over
Parliamentary probe into the 2G spectrum probe intensified
today with Congress and DMK members of the PAC opposing
continuance of its inquiry into the issue, a demand rejected
by the Opposition members.
P C Chacko, head of the Joint Parliamentary Committee
(JPC), which is also inquiring into the spectrum allocation
scam, added fuel to the fire declaring that it would be
"desirable" if the PAC, headed by BJP veteran Murli Manohar
Joshi, suo motu withdraws from it.
Joshi, who chaired a meeting of the PAC today, however,
sought to parry queries on the issue when it was raised at the
media. Only on Friday, Chacko and Joshi had met Lok Sabha
Speaker to discuss the turf war raging between them.
In the PAC meeting today, the issue of conflict between
the two Parliamentary bodies was discussed threadbare.
The PAC was a divided house with Congress and DMK
members speaking against the continaunce of the probe by the
Committee while the opposition members seeing no wrong in the
exercise.
The refrain of the opposition members in the PAC was
that the probe should continue and a report should be filed by
the month-end so that the outgoing members who have dealt with
the matter can also contribute.
"When PAC started looking into the matter, several
agencies were already going into it and we had not objected
and the same should be the attitude of the JPC", an opposition
member said.
Chacko said in Thrissur "If the PAC withdrew from the
probe on its own, it would help avoid duplication of looking
into the same subject by two panels".
He said enquiry by two agencies into the same subject
would also amount to violation of parliamentary rules and
procedures.
Joshi, at the briefing in Delhi on the PAC
deliberations, dismissed as "hackneyed" all questions relating
to the turf war.
He said the issue was with the Lok Sabha Speaker Meira
Kumar and both he and Chacko have presented their cases to
her.
In reply to another question, he said the PAC deals
only with implementation of policies. "We don`t discuss policy
issues.....We can only make recommendations about policies".
A senior Congress leader, who declined to be
identified, alleged of a larger BJP gameplan to keep the 2G
spectrum scam alive till the next Lok Sabha elections.
He alleged that a proactive PAC chief was part of a BJP
plan to ensure the PAC report by the end of the Monsoon
session of Parliament, much in time for Assembly polls next
year.
PTI
