The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) report on 2G spectrum allocation did not include former Telecom Minister A. Raja’s written submissions that stated that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was in the loop on policy decisions, said panel Chairman P.C. Chacko.
He also defended the decision not to call Mr. Raja to depose before the JPC despite his willingness to do so as most members were against it. “Mr. Raja’s opinion was received by the Committee not only on one occasion but on three. We received three letters from Mr. Raja. The last one was a note. That was not made part of the report...but when we reached [a] conclusion, Mr. Raja’s note was also quoted in that. His note was analysed by the committee before we arrived at conclusions,” Mr. Chacko said.
On Mr. Raja’s repeated pleas to appear before the JPC, the Congress MP said: “I did not reject his request for a personal appearance. It was a decision based on the majority view of the committee. It was the decision of the committee.” Mr. Raja was sent a questionnaire, to which he replied that the Prime Minister and then External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who was then heading the GoM on telecom, were kept informed of the licensing policy.
