The controversy over the Joint Parliamentary Committee’s report on spectrum allocations took a new turn as the Opposition accused the panel Chairman P.C. Chacko of denying the rights of a member by “editing” the dissent notes of Opposition members.
A day after the Opposition protested the tabling of the report in the Lok Sabha, the Rajya Sabha too witnessed uproarious scenes over the report. Deputy Leader of BJP Ravishankar Prasad, who was a member of panel, raised a point of order and said the content of his dissent note was tampered with by the JPC Chairman.
“I had given a strong dissent note...the guilty have been left...the report should not be tabled,” Prasad said. Opposition leader Arun Jaitley and various other Opposition MPs, including members of the DMK and the AIADMK, also came in support of Prasad.
“The substance of the dissent note given by members of the House has been altered by the Chairman. Please give us a ruling. Whether it is permissible,” Jaitley said.
Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien, however, allowed the tabling of the report and ruled that the report could be discussed only if it is tabled in the House. The Opposition continued its protests forcing the adjournment of the House for the day.
Speaker Meira Kumar, who drew flak from the Opposition side on Monday, issued a statement on Tuesday clarifying her ruling on the issue. Her office said the JPC report had been duly adopted by a majority. “Once the Report has been duly adopted, it has to be presented to the House,” her office said in a statement. “There is no rule allowing any discussion or raising of objections before presentation of the report. It is mandatory for the Chairman to present duly adopted Report to the House as per the terms of reference of the JPC,” it added.
jigeesh.am@thehindu.co.in