PAC meeting ‘rejects’ 2G draft report amid chaos

New Delhi, April 28, 2011





A meeting of the Parliament's Public Accounts Committee descended into chaos on Thursday after the United Progressive Alliance managed to secure the support of the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party to obtain a surprising majority which "rejected" the draft report on the 2G scam that was sharply critical of Prime Minister, his office and others.



Seven Congress MPs, supported by two from Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, attacked the chairman of the 21-member committee and veteran Bharatiya Janata Party leader M.M. Joshi over leakage of the report prepared by him which had made headlines.



The draft report had criticised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh personally for his "desire" to keep the Prime Minister\'s Office at "arm's length" on the issue of 2G allocation that allowed the then Telecom Minister A. Raja to execute his "dubious designs" and was also critical of the then Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and officials of the PMO with regard to handling the scam.



For over three hours, these MPs sought to put the chairman on the mat, accusing him of presenting a "one-sided" report with "mala fide" intention and demanded his resignation.



These nine MPs found surprise support in one member each of the SP and the BSP who were expected to go along with rest of the Opposition comprising six of the BJP excluding Joshi and one each from the Janata Dal (United), the Biju Janata Dal and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.



Eleven MPs, including one each from the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party, of the 21-member Public Accounts Committee on Thursday "rejected" the draft report on 2G scam that indicted former Telecom Minister A. Raja and made critical comments on the Prime Minister and the then Finance Minister P. Chidambaram.



Soz 'elected' chairman



The ruling coalition MPs, aided by the SP and the BSP, "elected" Congress member Saifuddin Soz as chairman who put the resolution for rejection of the report to vote.



The 'election' took place once Mr. Joshi had left the meeting after Mr. Soz moved a resolution seeking a vote on the adoption of the draft report.



In the "vote" that took place after the nine members belonging to opposition parties (the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Janata Dal (United), the Biju Janata Dal and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) had left, 11 members rejected the report, Mr. Soz claimed.



"I will now present the whole proceedings to the Speaker for her decision," he told reporters.



Mr. Soz said in a democracy when situations are created then such things (the election) happen.



Congress MP V. Arun Kumar said the election of Mr. Soz was for this meeting, which was the second session of the proceedings convened by Mr. Joshi to discuss the draft report.



In more drama, Mr. Soz later went to Mr. Joshi's office and handed over the "resolution" rejecting the report to his staff. He said he would apprise the Speaker of the developments in the meeting.



Was not allowed to speak: Joshi



Mr. Joshi himself told reporters after adjourning the meeting that the ruling side members said that the draft report was "outsourced".



"I wanted to say something but they did not allow me. So I adjourned the meeting," he said.



However, Congress members claimed that Mr. Joshi was not prepared to listen to them and "ran away".



Another opposition MP said the Congress MPs demanded that Mr. Joshi resign and did not allow him to conduct the meeting.



In the first session, after three hours of deliberations, Mr. Joshi found the going tough and adjourned the proceedings till 4 p.m.



During the morning session, the 11 MPs gave in writing rejecting the report and demnding a vote. They spoke against the draft report alleging mala fide intentions behind it. BJP MP Yashwant Sinha defended Mr. Joshi.



Mr. Soz' resolution read, "I move that the draft report on recent developments in the allocation of 2G and 3G Spectrum circulated by chairman be rejected." He moved it the moment the post-lunch session started.



In case of lack of consensus in Committee meetings, rules of procedure and conduct of business in Lok Sabha provide that all questions at any sittings of the Committee shall be determined by a majority of votes of the members present and voting.



The draft report indicts the Prime Minister and the Prime Minister's Office for giving an "indirect green signal" to Mr. Raja for going ahead with his policies.



It also attacked Mr. Chidambaram for recommending to the Prime Minister to "treat the matter as closed" instead of taking action against those responsible for loss to the exchequer.



The voluminous report had some unpleasant words for Dr. Singh, who had kept his office at "arm's length" in 2G spectrum issue which helped Mr. Raja "to execute his unfair, arbitrary and dubious designs".



Members concerned about leakage



During the meeting, UPA members expressed concern over leakage of the draft report. The Congress and the DMK members demanded voting to decide whether the report should be submitted to Lok Sabha.



The meeting began with members cutting across party lines discussing the leakage of the draft report which was circulated to the Parliamentary Committee by Chairperson Murli Manohar Joshi. Some members said this was a matter of ethics and suggested that CBI should investigate it.



Sources said though there were major differences between members the meeting was held in a cordial atmosphere.



Mr. Joshi reportedly gave each member the opportunity to express his views.



The strength of the two sides is delicately balanced in the 21-member committee which has seven representatives from the Congress, four from the BJP, two each from the AIADMK and the DMK, and one each from the Shiv Sena, the BJD, the JD(U), the SP, the BSP and the CPI(M).



Rules state that in case of all financial reports if the majority in the committee decides against presentation of the report to the Speaker, the Chairperson has to go by this decision.



The Congress and the DMK had on Wednesday attacked Mr. Joshi over the report and demanded his resignation, alleging that he was trying to destabilise the government.


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