PAC report on 2G spectrum allocation by April: Joshi
March 24th, 2011 - 7:27 pm ICT by IANS
New Delhi, March 24 (IANS) The parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will submit its report on the controversial 2G spectrum allocation to mobile operators next month, panel chief Murli Manohar Joshi said here Thursday.
At a press conference at Parliament Annexe, Joshi also dismissed suggestions that there was an overlap in the mandates of the PAC with that of the recently-constituted Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) headed by Congress member P.C. Chacko to probe the 2G spectrum scam.
“The PAC is working towards submitting its report in April,” the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said when asked when the investigation by the panel would be completed.
“There is no overlap between the mandates of PAC and the JPC. PAC is a perpetual committee with wide powers to look into any loss to the exchequer. JPC is for a limited mandate, time and for a specific subject,” he said.
Joshi said the PAC had a constitutional mandate to examine such issues, “whether the Supreme Court or Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) or Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or Enforcement Directorate (ED) or the JPC” probed them or not.
“Our (PAC) action (on the 2G spectrum allocation) started when there was no CAG audit report. It started during the chairmanship of Jaswant Singh and continued during Gopinath Munde’s tenure and mine,” he said.
The PAC, which is examining the CAG report that pegged the loss in the 2G spectrum scam at Rs.1.76 lakh crore, has so far summoned and heard the depositions from two senior journalists, apart from CBI chief A.P. Singh in the last two months.
Asked if the PAC had decided on summoning Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for a hearing, the BJP leader said the committee was yet to take a decision on this. The summoning of more journalists and celebrities too would be decided later, he added.
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- Tewari's 'rein him in' remark irks Joshi - Apr 05, 2011
- Let Chacko give his suggestions in writing, says Joshi - Mar 16, 2011
- Wide-ranging inquiry by PAC not required: JPC chief - Mar 15, 2011
- JPC examining NDA's 1999 telecom policy, summons Sorabjee (Lead) - May 18, 2011
- PAC will decide on PM's offer to appear before it: Joshi (Second Lead) - Dec 27, 2010
- PM offers to appear before PAC, BJP's Joshi says will decide (Roundup) - Dec 27, 2010
- PAC calls Nair, Chandrasekhar for 2G probe questioning - Apr 07, 2011
- Presumptive 2G loss a mathematical guess: Former auditor - Nov 14, 2011
- CAG within mandate to calculate 2G loss: Chacko (Lead) - May 30, 2011
- 2G scam: Niira Radia appears before PAC - Apr 04, 2011
- CAG briefs JPC on 2G loss figures, but questions remain (Second Lead) - May 30, 2011
- PAC to consider PM offer to depose on spectrum, says Joshi (Lead) - Dec 27, 2010
Tags: bharatiya janata party, bjp leader, cag report, cbi chief, central bureau of investigation, comptroller and auditor general, congress member, constitutional mandate, enforcement directorate, gopinath munde, jaswant singh, manmohan singh, manohar joshi, pac report, panel chief, parliamentary committee, prime minister manmohan, prime minister manmohan singh, public accounts committee, spectrum allocation