Charging CBI with showing "monumental lethargy" in its probe of the 2G spectrum scam, AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa on Friday said she welcomed the Supreme Court's decision to monitor the probe but the centre should not use it to duck the opposition's demand for a JPC.
"I welcome the Supreme Court's announcement that it would monitor the CBI probe into the 2G spectrum allocations scam. I also welcome the Supreme Court's insistence that the investigation should cover actions of the telecom department right from 2001," she said in a statement here.
The apex court had on Thrusday widened the investigation in the case by bringing in its ambit the telecom policy from 2001 to 2008, covering both the NDA and the UPA regimes
Charging the investigating agency with showing "monumental lethargy" in its probe, Ms Jayalalithaa said the recent "spurt of activities" of CBI had come only after the Supreme Court asked why it was "dithering" on the issue and why former telecom minister A Raja had not been questioned.
By expanding the CBI probe ambit to 2001, the tenure of former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran would also come under scrutiny, she said
However, Ms Jayalalithaa said the centre should not use the Supreme Court-monitored investigation to "duck" the combined opposition's demand for a JPC probe.
"The scope of the CBI investigation is limited to certain parameters. It cannot and will not include the conspirators and accessories to the scam, many of whom are in positions of considerable political power, both in the state and at the centre. The whole truth has to come out. And for this, a JPC probe is the only solution," she said.
She said her party would continue to insist on a JPC probe into the matter and join hands with all like-minded parties in pressing for this "very justified demand".