Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday said the Prime Minister or any other Minister was not liable to appear before any parliamentary committee, even as he reiterated the government's offer to the Opposition to hold a debate in Parliament on the need for a JPC probe into the 2G spectrum scam.
“The issue is not that of avoiding an investigation into the matter… Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has himself expressed his willingness [to appear before the Public Accounts Committee], and he did not even consult any of us,” Mr. Mukherjee said, speaking on ‘2G spectrum and the role of the Opposition' at a meeting at the Congress headquarters here.
Had Dr. Singh consulted him before writing to PAC Chairman Murli Manohar Joshi of the BJP, “I would have said ‘no,' because I am conservative. I believe in going by the rules laid down in the Constitution.”
Later in the day, Mr. Mukherjee clarified that there was no difference of opinion between him and the Prime Minister on the matter, but he referred to it to explain the rules of the House. “The Prime Minister is accountable to the House as a whole, not to a part of the House; a committee is a part of the House. This is why the Lok Sabha rule book says a committee can ask government employees to appear before it, but not Ministers.”
Stating that there were no rules for a parliamentary committee to summon a Minister but there was a precedent, Mr. Mukherjee pointed out that Dr. Singh himself, as Finance Minister, had appeared before a Joint Parliamentary Committee which probed the Harshad Mehta scam.
In his address to Congress leaders, Mr. Mukherjee said the Opposition had stalled the winter session of Parliament, and two meetings convened by him and another called by Speaker Meira Kumar produced no result.
Mr. Mukherjee defended the former Communications Minister, A. Raja, arguing that he had only followed the policies of the NDA government.
