The Opposition continued to put pressure on the Joint Parliamentary Committee probing spectrum allocation to summon Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, here on Thursday.
Though he ruled out summoning the Prime Minister before the panel, Chairman P.C. Chacko is learnt to have sent a letter to the Speaker Meira Kumar seeking her direction to summon a Minister before the panel.
Addressing a press conference, Chacko said Rules and Procedures of the House do not allow summoning of the Minister. He said he will seek the Speaker’s guidance on the issue.
Later, sources said, Chacko, citing the demands of members, asked the Speaker’s direction on whether the Finance Minister could be summoned before the panel.
As the BJP decided to abstain from Thursday’s meeting due to differences with Chacko, the Left parties, SP and BSP also asked the Chairman to summon Chidambaram.
Sources said the CPI(M) member in the panel, Sitaram Yechury, told Chacko that unless Chidambaram is called, the committee may not be able to reach a logical conclusion on the 2G scam.
“Why did the Finance Ministry give up its demand for fixing market price for the 2G spectrum? Only Chidambaram will be able to answer this,” Yechury is learnt to have told the panel.
Opposition members cite a precedence that as the Finance Minister, Manmohan Singh appeared before the JPC on the stock market scam in the 1990’s, headed by veteran Congressman Ram Niwas Mirdha. Chacko, however, ruled out summoning the Prime Minister.
When pointed out that the Prime Minister himself has said he was not afraid to appear before any panel, including JPC, Chacko said Singh was ready to come before the PAC, not before the JPC.
While the BJP abstained from the meeting saying that there is no point in participating in the proceedings unless the list of witnesses is finalised, CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta walked out of Thursday’s meeting after a heated exchange with Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.
Former Additional Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs Sindhushree Khullar appeared before the panel here on Thursday.