A day after former Union telecom minister D. Raja was arrested by the CBI in connection with the 2G spectrum allocation scam, Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) headed by BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi questioned Reserve Bank of India governor D. Subbarao on Thursday.
Mr Subbarao was the Union finance secretary when the 2G spectrum allocations had been made by the telecom ministry. The government, in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court has said that in late November 2007. the finance secretary had raised certain questions on the issue of 2G spectrum allocation and in particular the entry fee. Furthermore, the PAC may have questioned him regarding the violation of any banking regulations.
Asked if lobbyist Niira Radia too would be asked to appear before the PAC, Mr Joshi replied that any person whose appearance was considered necessary would be called. As for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s offer made earlier to appear before the parliamentary panel, Mr Joshi said, “An appropriate decision would be taken at an appropriate time.”
As for his complaint to Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar in January regarding the remarks that had been made by telecom minister Kapil Sibal rubbishing the findings of the CAG report, Mr Joshi said that he is yet to receive a reply from her.
Mr Joshi while refusing to spell out any time-frame by when the PAC will be ready with its report also said that no interim report will be tabled in Parliament during the forthcoming Budget session. Further, he said that information sought by the PAC from the PMO in connection with its probe has been received.
On the contentious issue of a JPC probe into the spectrum scam, he said that it was not the PAC’s job to suggest the setting up of a JPC.