JPC members caution conflict of interests

Chacko has written to the JPC members, saying that if anyone had any interest related to the issues the committee will examine, he or she should recuse or remain absent from the deliberations, sources said.

The letter assumes significance after questions were  raised over the presence of Sinha and Singh on the 30-member committee which will look into the telecom policies between 1998 and 2008.

As finance minister during the NDA rule, Sinha headed  the GoM which went into the issue of fixed-service providers being allowed limited mobility. Singh was a member of the group.
Singh later headed the GoM on unified access service licence in his capacity as finance minister and Sinha was a member.

Some members have pointed out that the presence of Sinha and Singh on the panel would amount to a conflict of interest.

It is expected that if Sinha and Singh do not recuse themselves or abstain from deliberations, some members may raise questions over their presence at the first meeting of the JPC on March 24, sources said.

The Congress, while saying nothing officially, has indicated that it will raise objections and put the clash of interest on record at the JPC’s first meeting. The BJP has made it clear that it was unlikely to ask Singh and Sinha to quit the JPC, arguing that they had no “personal” conflict of interest on telecomrelated issues.