Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Murli Manohar Joshi said here on Saturday that there was no scope for issuing a dissent note on the Committee's report on the 2G spectrum allocation scam. He said that the report had been submitted to the House and a report on action taken would have to be given.
Stating that public money was people's money and they had a right to know, Dr. Joshi said that he would continue “to chase the rupee” to track its source and its destination.
Addressing a press meet here, he said: “After the meeting was adjourned, a dissent note cannot be given.” He said that as per rules, the committee members should have asked questions, and discussed paragraph by paragraph after the report was circulated. “When the chance for discussion is there, where is the scope for dissent?”
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In response to a question on whether he knew of a rising voice of dissent, Dr. Joshi said: “They [the members] knew that the report was strong on facts and had been vetted by the Comptroller and Auditor General. But the issue of dissent was raised once they realised that the report contained the name of the Prime Minister and certain others.” He added, however, that the report did not indict anyone.
On the role played by the members representing the Samajwadi Party (SP), who demanded a vote on the report, he said: “They suddenly made a U-turn. Are they supporting corruption? They acted against parliamentary practices.”
On tracking the rupee, he said that the government had a duty to protect revenue created by the people of India and if they failed to do it, the PAC would have to take it up. “Why should the names of people stashing away money in Swiss banks be kept secret,” he asked.
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On Pakistan
Responding to a question, he said Osama bin Laden had been the father of terrorism and an enemy of the people. He reiterated his party's demand that Pakistan be told in no uncertain terms to hand over wanted criminals. “Create an international climate and pressure so that Pakistan hands over all criminals. A serious situation has developed as regards India's security because of the very unstable situation in Pakistan.”
Dr. Joshi felt that apart from corruption, security was a cause for concern for India.