Former TRAI chiefs, telecom secys to depose before JPC

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The Joint Parliamentary Committee looking into the 2G spectrum allocation scam will start calling witnesses from next month, beginning with two former Telecom Secretaries and previous chairmen of TRAI.

Those who have been lined up before the JPC as witnesses include former CVC and Telecom Secretary P.J. Thomas.

Another former Telecom Secretary Siddharth Behura, who is in jail since February facing charges of cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy in the 2G scam, will also appear before the Committee.

The JPC is mandated to examine policy prescriptions and their interpretation thereafter by successive governments, and irregularities and aberrations and its consequences in the implementation of government decisions from 1998 to 2009.

It is expected to present its report to Parliament by the end of the Monsoon session on September 8.

In its four meetings spread between July 7 to 13, the JPC will record statements of nine former Telecom Secretaries and four former Chairmen of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

The first person to appear before the JPC as a witness could be A V Gokak, who was Telecom Secretary between November 1996 and August 1998, followed by Vinod Vaish, Shyamal Ghosh, Anil Kumar, Nripendra Mishra, J S Sarma, Siddharth Behura, Dinesh Shankar Mathur and P.J. Thomas.

Interestingly, Nripendra Mishra will appear before the Committee on July 8 and 13 as both former Telecom Secretary and former chief of TRAI.

Other former TRAI chairmen whose statements will be recorded include S S Sodhi, M.S. Verma and Pradip Baijal.