Stop ministers from attacking CAG,PAC

Sibal had rubbished the CAG findings in 2G spectrum allocation.

Taking strong exception to Telecom Minister Kapil Sibals recent remarks rubbishing the CAG report on 2G spectrum allocation,the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament has written a strong letter to Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar questioning whether parliamentary propriety and democratic practices had been undermined by his actions.

PAC chairman Murli Manohar Joshis letter dated January 19 and released to the media on Friday,sought prompt and effective actions from the Speaker to stop such constitutional impropriety by ministers while seeking clarifications from Sibal on his utterances. Joshi also sought to ring in the Prime Ministers Office by asking in his letter if Sibal had made the comments regarding CAG with the knowledge and permission of the Prime Minister.

Sibal had rubbished the CAG findings in 2G spectrum allocation to the extent of saying that the presumptuous loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore it had arrived at was utterly erroneous. He in fact had said there was no loss to the government when the allocation was made.

Sibal,who addressed a press conference on Friday evening after the strong criticism from the PAC as well as the Supreme court,however,maintained that he meant no disrespect to any institution. He maintained that he would have never wilfully or otherwise tried to bring down the authority and respect which all institutions deserve. At the same time though,he welcomed the SC order that no MP or any other person should comment or indulge in respect of commenting on the ongoing investigation into 2G.

In his letter,Joshi questioned whether it was appropriate for a minister,who is holding the charge of the ministry concerned,to cast aspersions on the CAG report after it was tabled in Parliament. The ministry gets ample opportunities to discuss the points raised by the CAG before finalising the report. Final report is the outcome of such discussions.

Giving an update on the Prime Ministers offer to appear before the PAC,Joshi said the PMO had last month sent over 4,000 pages of documents relating to its communication with the department of telecom,which was under examination by the committee. We will take a view on the Prime Ministers offer,once we have examined the documents, he said. Besides CAG Vinod Rai,the PAC on Friday heard the views of senior telecom ministry officials.