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Press statement issued by BJP National Spokesperson,
Smt Nirmala Sitharaman
The BJP disapproves of the way in which steadily and consistently the Congress Party is stone walling the functioning of parliamentary committees. Earlier, they disrupted the Public Account Committee (PAC) from duly discharging its duties.
The entire country watched the spectacle of the Congress Party resisting the formation of a Joint Parliamentary committee (JPC) to enquire into the 2G spectrum allocation scandal. Various ministers of the UPA government came out to say that the courts are looking into the criminality of the issues and that there was no need for a JPC. One entire session of the Parliament (Winter 2011) was lost in the process.
It is public knowledge that the Supreme Court has cancelled all the 122 Spectrum licences issued by UPA Government.
Public pressure and the size of the corruption scandal forced the government to concede and form the JPC. But the functioning of the JPC has been more reported in the press for the disruption rather than for the progress in investigating the corruption scandal.
BJP members have repeatedly questioned about the functioning of the JPC.
Moreover the main accused former Minister A Raja has repeatedly asked for being permitted to appear before the JPC. This has been rejected by the Chairman unilaterally. Parliamentary Committees work on consensus .
Ministers appearing before the committees are not unknown to Indian parliamentary democracy. In 1992 Dr Manmohan Singh himself had appeared before a JPC, so has BJP's Shri Yashwant Sinha.
During the AICC Plenary held at Burari in 2011 the Prime Minister has like a statesman offered to appear before the Public Accounts Committee. The PAC cannot call the PM is well known.
However, the JPC which is formed on any issue is formed with an objective of enforcing accountability of the executive particularly, the political executive to the parliament.
A Raja who demands permission to appear before the JPC is being denied permission. Shri Raja has repeatedly stated that the Prime Minister was privy to the decision he took along with the then finance minister. Moreover, in the light of Shri Vahnavati the Attorney General of India saying that A Raja has interpolated a sentence in the 2G file after his (AG) having cleared, it raises several questions.
Keeping all this in mind Shri Yashwant Sinha, former Finance and External Affairs minister and a BJP member in the JPC having written several times to the JPC chairman and having failed to get a reply chose to write to the prime minister and the speaker.
The BJP demands that the prime minister and the then and the present finance minister both appear before the JPC. Mr. A Raja should be made to appear before the JPC, as per his request.
The JPC should progress to investigate in a free, fair and in a comprehensive manner.
(O.P. Kohli)
Headquarter Incharge
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