Congress creating hurdles, says PAC chief

June 12, 2011 06:41 pm | Updated November 17, 2021 01:24 am IST - Dehra Dun

Senior BJP leader and PAC chairman Murli Manohar Joshi on Sunday accused the Congress of creating hurdles into the 2G spectrum probe by the PAC. File Photo

Senior BJP leader and PAC chairman Murli Manohar Joshi on Sunday accused the Congress of creating hurdles into the 2G spectrum probe by the PAC. File Photo

Senior BJP leader and Public Accounts Committee Chairman Murli Manohar Joshi on Sunday accused the Congress of creating hurdles to the PAC probe into the 2G spectrum scam. The party tried to stop the presentation of the draft report on the 2G scam, he alleged, but asserted that he would continue the probe and expose the “wrongdoings” of the Union government.

When the Parliamentary Committee decided to summon the Law Secretary, the Cabinet Secretary, the CBI Director and the then Attorney-General, the Congress MPs protested, the PAC Chairman said.

The Congress MPs said there was no need to summon them as the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) was investigating the spectrum controversy, he told journalists here. However, with the intervention of Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, the matter was resolved as she clarified that the PAC and the JPC would work simultaneously, Dr. Joshi said.

The statements of the officers could not be recorded properly as the Congress members created “hurdles” to the investigation, he said.

Somehow the report was completed but the Congress tried to stop its presentation, Dr. Joshi alleged.

“Since the finger of suspicion was pointed towards the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister, who kept mum despite knowing everything related to the 2G spectrum, the Congress rejected the report,” he said.

Constitutional body

“The PAC is a constitutional body. How can they reject its report? If this is the case, tomorrow they can reject laws enacted by Parliament and orders passed by the Supreme Court,” Dr. Joshi said.

“I will continue to probe the matter and expose the government wherever irregularities are found without coming under any pressure or fear for, it is the right of every citizen to know how the public money is being used.”

Alleging that the UPA government at the Centre was the most corrupt since Independence, Dr. Joshi said the BJP would continue to apprise the people of its “misdeeds”.

Foreign policy

On foreign policy, Dr. Joshi said: “We must understand that the United States sometimes browbeats Pakistan but it will never leave it. Moreover, China has already said that an attack on Pakistan will be considered as an attack on China. So, we must draft our foreign policy and defence policy in view of these facts.”

Accusing the Congress-led UPA government of discrimination against the BJP-ruled States, Dr. Joshi said: “It has damaged the federal structure of the country by meting out step-motherly treatment to the States not ruled by the Congress“.

He alleged that the Centre lowered the quota of foodgrains for Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh.

Surplus power

Gujarat had surplus power but the UPA government was not permitting it to sell the additional electricity to other States, Dr. Joshi alleged.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.