NCP member wants Raja to depose before JPC

Chacko has in the past turned down demands by Opposition members in the panel for calling Raja as well as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The Opposition has been arguing that it was only fair that Raja the main accused in the case and whom the draft report has indicted is given a chance to present his case.

Having not been given a chance to depose,Raja,however,had written a lengthy and elaborate note to the panel presenting his case. The Opposition as well as the DMK members in the panel,however,have already rejected the draft report of the panel,which came into the public domain in April. The panel has not met since then.

The demand of the NCP member assumes significance as the ruling side enjoys only a wafer-thin majority in the panel after the exit of DMK and TMC from the UPA. After the DMK and TMC pull out,the ruling UPA along with the SP and BSP had 14 members excluding Chacko in the 30-member panel.