Oppn rejects PM's offer

Both the BJP and Left parties have said the PM did not have the right to choose the forum of his inquiry. “If he has nothing to hide, he should agree to the setting up of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC),” the Opposition asserted on Monday.

Reacting to the PM’s offer of appearing before the PAC, BJP leader Arun Jaitley said: “The  PM cannot choose his forum of inquiry. If he believes that he or his government has not done anything wrong, he should not go into the debate of PAC versus JPC. He should appear before the JPC which has the mandate to probe it.”

He insisted that the prime minister is personally liable for appointing P J Thomas as the CVC and subversion of the CBI.

“The government must answer questions as to how a tainted minister was allowed to continue for three years after the reports of the scam came in 2007 and why action was not taken against him,” he said.

CPM leader Sitaram Yechury said the prime minister, as the leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, led the walk out for three weeks over the demand of JPC on Tehelka issue in 2002.

“The JPC demand was not for interrogating the prime minister, it is needed to ensure that the country’s system is not manipulated as it was done in the 2G spectrum scam,” he said.
CPI national secretary D Raja said the Congress party and the prime minister should not make JPC a contentious issue.

“The JPC would be a better mechanism to go into the depth of the 2G Spectrum scam,” said Raja.