UPA agrees to JPC on 2G scam

The Congerss-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government on Sunday agreed to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the 2G spectrum scam, ending months of uncertainly over the demand by the Opposition that saw the Parliament deadlocked in the winter session.

The consensus was arrived at an all party meeting convened by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar here in which the government acceded to the demand of the opposition.

“We are looking forward to a fruitful and productive session of Parliament,” said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after the meeting.

He said the government is read to discuss any issue, and pointed out that the budget session is a truly important session.

“The Budget of the central government has to be passed. It is therefore truly the most important session of Parliament,” Singh said.

The budget session of Parliament begins on Monday.

The 2G spectrum allocation scam saw many political and corporate heads rolling as the government’s auditor, the CAG, pegged the losses of the allocation of the licences at Rs 1.76 lakh crore.

Former Telecom Minister A Raja, who is from the DMK party, had to resign over the scam and he is now in jail after a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) nailed him.

Earlier there were indications that a JPC probe into the 2G spectrum allocation scam was almost certain, with the PM himself providing hints at his interaction with TV channel editors.

Earlier reports said the Centre might even conceded the demand for increasing the strength of such a panel (JPC) to 30 from 21.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Bansal said the JPC is likely to have 30 members- 20 from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha.

Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) patriarch L K Advani said JPC should look into all scams of the UPA regime, inlcuding the Commonwealth Games and Adarsh housing scam.