Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is expected to submit its report on the 2G spectrum allocation scam in the monsoon session, even if the government agrees to the Opposition demand to constitute a Joint Parliamentary Committee to probe the matter.
The PAC, headed by senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi, is going ahead full steam with its process of examining the matter and is currently perusing the Shivraj V Patil report on the 2G spectrum allocations, highly placed sources said.
Justice Patil has submitted a 150-page report with annexures running into 1,300 pages to Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal recently.
The PAC is also examining about 1,400 documents submitted to it by the Prime Minister’s Office and is yet to decide whether to accept Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s offer to appear before it.
“We will be able to decide on the Prime Minister’s offer only after examining all these papers,” said a source in the 15—member Committee.
“We have to check with Speaker Meira Kumar as ministers can be summoned only with her consent,” the source said, admitting that the situation was unique as the Prime Minister himself had offered to appear before the PAC.
Meanwhile, PAC plans to call Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar for giving evidence in connection with the 2G allocation scam.
Time may also be running out for Joshi who took over as PAC Chairman on May 5, 2010 and his term may end before the report is finalised. The nature of the report may also depend on the choice of his successor.
Sources close to Joshi said they are not very sure of BJP giving him another term. The post of PAC chairman is allotted to the main opposition party.
“Examining 2G scam was not my decision. It began in January 2010 when Gopinath Munde was the PAC Chairman. It was ten months after that the CAG submitted its report on the matter,” Mr Joshi said.