The formality of tabling the JPC report on the allocation and pricing of telecom licenses and 2G spectrum in Parliament was completed on Tuesday and the process ran the same course in the Rajya Sabha as it did in the Lok Sabha on Monday, Opposition protests notwithstanding.
It was tabled amidst resistance by the Opposition taking exception to the alterations made in the dissent notes submitted by panel members, allegedly to suit the government.
The attempts by the BJP, the Left, the AIADMK and the TMC members to stall the tabling of the report was overruled by the Chair, but the House had to be adjourned thrice and eventually for the day in the face of an Opposition uproar.
Congress member Anand Bhaskar Rapolu completed the formality after Deputy Chairman P.J.Kurien set aside the point of order raised by Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley and deputy leader of the BJP in the House Ravi Shankar Prasad.
The JPC report was tabled in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Mr. Jaitley sought a ruling from the chair on whether alteration of substance by the committee chairman was permissible. What the panel head had done amounted to breach of privilege, he said.
Mr. Prasad charged that his dissent note as a member of the committee had been altered and evidence removed with mala fide intentions. Such a “fraud” and “corrupt” report should not be allowed to be tabled in the House.
Mr. Kurien acknowledged that the point Mr. Jaitley raised was valid, but said he could not comment because he had not read the report. He went on to state that objections could not be raised at the point of presenting the report.
