JPC members question non-submission of 2G note by Fin Min

As the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the 2G issue met here, CPI(M) member Sitaram Yechury raised the issue of the Finance Ministry note that suggested that the then Finance Minister P Chidambaram could have insisted on auction of the radiowaves.

Yechury said the note in question was not among the documents submitted by the Finance Ministry to the JPC. He is understood to have contended that if the non-submission of the 2G note was a deliberate act, it amounted to breach of privilege and if it was a lapse, it was a serious one.

BJP member S S Ahluwalia demanded that the Finance Secretary be summoned today itself to provide clarification on the issue. JPC Chairman P C Chacko expressed difficulty in asking the Finance Secretary to appear before the committee at such a short notice but it cut no ice with the members.

They insisted that a senior ministry official be asked to appear before the committee for explanation. The JPC had met to record evidence of former Telecom Secretary Nripendra Mishra.