JPC on spectrum to submit report before April

Our Bureau Updated - November 20, 2017 at 11:46 AM.

The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on spectrum allocations has decided to submit its report to Parliament during the upcoming Budget session.

Talking to reporters after the 51st meeting of the JPC, Chairman P.C. Chacko said the members had unanimously decided to complete the summoning of witnesses by February 12.

Chacko said the committee would start preparing the draft report after February 12. “We will try to submit the report before April 15,” he said.

When asked whether Finance Minister P. Chidambaram would be summoned, Chacko said no such discussions were held in the panel. He said the committee did not need much time to summon a witness.

“It is only a question of sending a notice,” Chacko added. The Opposition BJP and Left parties have been demanding that Chidambaram be summoned before the panel, which is being resisted by the Congress.

Attorney General G.E. Vahanavati and former Director General at the Comptroller and Auditor General’s Office R.P. Singh will be summoned by the JPC in its next meeting on January 22.

“In the next four or five sittings we will decide who all should be summoned,” Chacko added.

The members of the Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India, which represents CDMA operators, appeared before the panel on Tuesday. Chacko said the operators presented their views on the Centre’s policy on spectrum licences.

>jigeesh.am@thehindu.co.in

Published on January 8, 2013 17:01