M A I N   N E W S

2G: I have nothing to hide from JPC, says Manmohan
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 3
Under attack from the Opposition, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today stressed that neither he nor his government has anything to hide in regard to the 2G spectrum allocation matter underlining that all pertinent records and documents have been made available to the Joint Parliamentary Committee probing it.

Responding to the letter by Yashwant Sinha, a BJP member on the JPC, the Prime Minister said the decision regarding which individual should be asked to appear before is to be decided by the panel and its Chairman.

“You are aware that all pertinent records and documents available with the government have already been placed at the disposal of the JPC. I have said from the beginning that neither the government nor I have anything to hide in this matter. The decision as to what evidence should be sought and which individuals should be asked to appear before the JPC is a matter that needs to be decided internally by the JPC and its Chairman”, Dr Manmohan Singh said in his reply to Sinha’s April 1 letter suggesting the Prime Minister to appear before the panel in the wake of allegations made by the then Telecom Minister A. Raja in this regard.

Hours after the Prime Minister’s response was released officially, JPC Chairman PC Chacko rejected the demand by Sinha ruling out calling either the Prime Minister or any other individual on the basis of statements being made by members.

At a briefing in the AICC, he said the JPC has passed the phase where it could ask witnesses to appear before the panel since it was now in the process of preparing the draft report for the consideration of the committee. Chacko, who is also a spokesman for the party, said the JPC authorised him to draft the report.

Chacko said during the 56 sittings the panel did not receive any suggestion that either the PM or any other minister be called before it. Citing rules, he said in case the JPC wants to summon a minister there has to be a unanimous decision followed by permission of the Speaker.

On his part, CPM MP on the panel Sitaram Yechury said while the records were available with the JPC, there is a crucial question that needs to be answered since at one meeting, attended by the Prime Minister, the Finance Minister and then Telecom Minister, the decision to allow ‘first come first served’ was cleared after the Finance Minister had earlier recommended competitive price as the criteria. “This is crucial to the investigation and who decided the change,” he told The Tribune.

CBI, I-T team start examining Radia tapes

New Delhi: A six-member CBI and income tax team has began its work of examining over 5,800 tapes of tapped conversation of corporate lobbyist Niira Radia with politicians, corporate honchos and others. The team has started the process of going through the tapes and its transcripts running into 49 volumes last week as per the directions of SC in February this year, sources said.