New Delhi: The reworked Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report on the 2G scam has sparked a fresh furore with UPA members on the parliamentary panel today demanding the removal of senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi from the post of the chairman of the PAC.
Mr Joshi had circulated the reworked report among the PAC members yesterday. The report questions the role of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram.
The UPA members on the panel accused Mr Joshi of being "interested in politics".
In fact, senior Congress MP Sanjay Nirupam - also a member of the committee - slammed the reworked report, saying it "deserves to be thrown into the dustbin".
Mr Nirupam claimed that there was no change in the reworked report and sought to know why the opinion of constitutional experts was not present in the report.
Mr Joshi had, in a forwarding letter sent to PAC members yesterday, said that he was sending them the draft report again after consulting constitutional experts, rules of procedures and "past precedents".
On June 28, Mr Joshi had made a similar attempt to place the report before the new PAC but his effort was thwarted by members from the UPA, following which it was decided that constitutional experts would be consulted on whether the report, recently returned by Speaker Meira Kumar, can be considered by it.
Speaker Meira Kumar had returned the report to Mr Joshi, who was reappointed as Chairman in May, suggesting it was not supported by the entire PAC whose term ended on April 30.
The BJP, meanwhile, said that there was nothing wrong in re-circulating the PAC report. Reacting to the UPA members' demand for Mr Joshi's removal, senior party leader S S Ahluwalia said, "Let then demand the Chairman's resignation. They can move a no-confidence motion."
The reworked report could spell more trouble for the government. Mr Joshi's last report on the 2G scam had been rejected by the UPA members in the PAC but this time, the ruling coalition doesn't have the numbers to scuttle the report.
In the 21-member committee, nine members support the report, but nine are against it. Three members of the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) are neither supporting it nor opposing it and one seat is vacant.
Hence, if the Congress wants to get the reworked report of the PAC rejected, it will need the support of the SP and the BSP.
A member of the PAC said the report has 575 pages with 276 pages of documents the committee had received from the government on 2G spectrum allocation.
"There are much more annexures than the previous report... some paragraphs have been deleted. But the essence is the same," the member said.
In his letter to the members yesterday, Mr Joshi said he had consulted experts, looked into precedents and referred to rule books and believed that the draft report is the "unfinished agenda of the previous PAC".
He has also referred to the Speaker's decision to return the report as it was not adopted by the committee as per rules.
The PAC meeting had on April 28 descended into chaos after the UPA managed to secure the support of BSP and SP to secure a majority which rejected the draft report on the 2G scam that was sharply critical of the Prime Minister, his office and others.
Mr Joshi had then sent the report Ms Kumar along with a cover letter detailing the sequence of events during the meeting
Mr Joshi had circulated the reworked report among the PAC members yesterday. The report questions the role of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram.
The UPA members on the panel accused Mr Joshi of being "interested in politics".
In fact, senior Congress MP Sanjay Nirupam - also a member of the committee - slammed the reworked report, saying it "deserves to be thrown into the dustbin".
Mr Nirupam claimed that there was no change in the reworked report and sought to know why the opinion of constitutional experts was not present in the report.
Mr Joshi had, in a forwarding letter sent to PAC members yesterday, said that he was sending them the draft report again after consulting constitutional experts, rules of procedures and "past precedents".
On June 28, Mr Joshi had made a similar attempt to place the report before the new PAC but his effort was thwarted by members from the UPA, following which it was decided that constitutional experts would be consulted on whether the report, recently returned by Speaker Meira Kumar, can be considered by it.
Speaker Meira Kumar had returned the report to Mr Joshi, who was reappointed as Chairman in May, suggesting it was not supported by the entire PAC whose term ended on April 30.
The BJP, meanwhile, said that there was nothing wrong in re-circulating the PAC report. Reacting to the UPA members' demand for Mr Joshi's removal, senior party leader S S Ahluwalia said, "Let then demand the Chairman's resignation. They can move a no-confidence motion."
The reworked report could spell more trouble for the government. Mr Joshi's last report on the 2G scam had been rejected by the UPA members in the PAC but this time, the ruling coalition doesn't have the numbers to scuttle the report.
In the 21-member committee, nine members support the report, but nine are against it. Three members of the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) are neither supporting it nor opposing it and one seat is vacant.
Hence, if the Congress wants to get the reworked report of the PAC rejected, it will need the support of the SP and the BSP.
A member of the PAC said the report has 575 pages with 276 pages of documents the committee had received from the government on 2G spectrum allocation.
"There are much more annexures than the previous report... some paragraphs have been deleted. But the essence is the same," the member said.
In his letter to the members yesterday, Mr Joshi said he had consulted experts, looked into precedents and referred to rule books and believed that the draft report is the "unfinished agenda of the previous PAC".
He has also referred to the Speaker's decision to return the report as it was not adopted by the committee as per rules.
The PAC meeting had on April 28 descended into chaos after the UPA managed to secure the support of BSP and SP to secure a majority which rejected the draft report on the 2G scam that was sharply critical of the Prime Minister, his office and others.
Mr Joshi had then sent the report Ms Kumar along with a cover letter detailing the sequence of events during the meeting
Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/pac-report-upa-members-demand-mm-joshi-s-removal-124800&cp
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