Dec. 28: Ms Sushma Swaraj, leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, on Tuesday negated her party colleague and Public Accounts Committee chairman, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi’s contention that the PAC is an independent body that can go beyond what the CAG has reported on the 2G spectrum issue, bringing into the open the contradiction within the BJP over its demand for a JPC probe into the allocation of 2G spectrum.
The ruling Congress defended Dr Joshi by suggesting that Ms Swaraj should desist from interfering in the functioning of a constitutional parliamentary committee. “We respect Dr Joshi as chairman of a constitutional parliamentary committee. He should be allowed to perform his functions,” the AICC spokesperson, Mr Shakeel Ahmed, said.
The AICC spokesperson said that Dr Joshi is chairman of the PAC on account of his being a BJP MP. “If there is a problem in his party, and if Sushmaji has any differences with Dr Joshi, they should either sort out their differences within the party or one of them can resign from their post,” Dr Ahmed said.
Writing on her social networking website, Ms Swaraj said, “The scope of a PAC is totally different from that of a JPC. While PAC deals with accounts, JPC deals with accountability and governance.”