Supreme Court remarks on PM to fuel JPC demand in Parliament
The Opposition parties in the Parliament are all geared up to intensify their demand on Thursday for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe on the 2G Spectrum scam with the Supreme Court?s remarks against the Prime Minister for inaction in the scam likely to fuel the protests in both the Houses.
The Opposition as well as several members of the ruling alliance who have come together to corner the Congress and DMK in the scam will wait for a response on the JPC demand, as announced by Leader of the House in Lok Sabha Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday.
?If the government does not respond positively, the Opposition will again stall proceedings,? said Rajya Sabha member V Maitreyan (AIADMK) on Wednesday.
BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said the government must concede to the demand for a JPC as it was the common demand of all the parties.
Other parties also indicated that the government will face more protests if the JPC is not announced.
Meanwhile, the apex court?s remarks on Tuesday against the Prime Minister?s ?silence? will further intensify the Opposition demand.
Its echoes were heard outside the Parliament on Wednesday when 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 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 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.
