The Solicitor General of India has said that the Supreme Court’s remarks of inaction against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the 2G spectrum scam are not an embarrassment, even as India’s major opposition BJP demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) into the whole issue and an immediate response from the PM to the court.
The Solicitor General told a TV channel that the Supreme Court observations on the Prime Minister’s alleged inaction was not embarrassing according to him.
“We will answer it in the court,” said Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium.
The next hearing of the case is on Thursday.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked why the sanctioning authority (Prime Minister) took 11 months to act on a request seeking permission for prosecution of tainted former Telecom Minister A Raja in the 2G spectrum scam.
The apex court referred to a letter to the PM from Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy where he sought sanction to have Raja indicted over corruption charges.
“The three months time for grant of sanction laid down by the Supreme Court is clear for fair and good governance? Can the sanctioning authority (PM in this case) sit on the complaint?” the court asked solicitor general Gopal Subramanium.
The court was hearing the petition of Subramanian Swamy. The sanction of PM is needed to prosecute a sitting minister.
The court asked the government to explain why the Prime Minister took 11 months to respond to the request of Swamy.
Meanwhile, BJP leader L K Advani said in Patna that the Prime Minister “should answer quickly” to the Supreme Court question and a JPC must be constituted immediately.
Advani said never before had the office of PM questioned like this by the Supreme Court.
The CAG report on the telecom scam tabled in Parliament on Tuesday said the 2G spectrum allocation process lacked transparency, and that former minister A Raja’s decision had cost the exchequer Rs 1.76 lakh crore and that 85 of the 125 licences issued were found to be given to companies which did not satisfy basic eligibility criteria.