2 min readNew DelhiJul 9, 2016 02:28 AM IST
First published on: Jul 9, 2016 at 02:28 AM IST
The issue of the alleged revenue under-reporting by telcos between 2006 and 2010 is all set to kick up a row in Public Accounts Committee between the BJP and Congress when the panel meets on July 13 to cross examine the representatives of the accused telecom companies and officials of the Ministry of Communication and Technology.
The meeting could be a stormy affair as knives are already out between the two main parties over the issue after the main Opposition party on Thursday accused the Centre of “burying the telecom scam worth Rs 45,000 crore”, a charge vehemently denied by the BJP. When confronted about the Congress charge, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, who is a member of the PAC, told The Indian Express that before levelling allegations on the Centre, the Congress should answer why it did not act to check under reporting of revenue by telecom officials.
[related-post]
Watch Video: What’s making news
“If some companies were committing the wrong, their licences should have been cancelled. If not at least a notice for termination of license should have been given. Even this time was not done. I want to ask under whose tenure the under reporting of revenue by telecom companies was done? It was Congress, which was n power then. We are taking action,” Dubey said.
Congress member in PAC Shantaram Naik, said, “Congress has 3-4 members in the panel. We will discuss and take a common stand,” he said. Sources said that the Congress members will be targetting the telecom ministry on the issue, when PAC discusses the matter. The 21-member PAC has 8 members from BJP including Kirit Somaiya, Anurag Thakur and Nishikant Dubey, while the members of Congress include Satyavrat Chaturvedi, Shantaram Naik and Bhuvaneshwar Kalita besides the PAC Chairman K V Thomas. On July 13, the panel has called the representatives of telecom firms — Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, Aircel, Tata Teleservices, Idea Cellular and Vodafone India, besides representatives of Ministry of Communications & Information Technology to hear them on the subject.
Share
