P.C. Chacko, Congress Lok Sabha member and Chairman of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), has again turned down the former Communication Minister, A. Raja’s plea to appear in person before the JPC and give his side of facts on the 2G spectrum allocation issue.
Informed sources said the Chairman was also likely to convene a meeting of the JPC in the second week of April to finalise the report on the issue, even as there were indications that at least two members had decided to give dissent notes separately.
Replying to a questionnaire sent by Mr. Chacko earlier, Mr. Raja expressed surprise at his being prevented from testifying before the Committee. Referring to the allegations that he ignored/disregarded the advice of the Law Minister and the Finance Minister, as also that he misled the Prime Minister, Mr. Raja said that his testimony would bring out the truth, including the fact “that all decisions were taken collectively…”
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP had further said: “…if given an opportunity to appear before the JPC, I will establish that these allegations were misconceived and all decisions were taken collectively by the Department of Telecom with the express or tacit consent of other senior functionaries of the government.”
