The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha adjourned without transacting any significant business with the government and the opposition sticking to their respective stands on the JPC, which has become the bone of contention between rival sides.
After a three-and-a-half-hour meeting, which was stormy at times, the Congress Working Committee, the party's highest policy making body, authorised incumbent chief Sonia Gandhi to schedule the internal elections after the conclusion of assembly polls in five states due to be held in April-May.
The Joint Parliamentary Committee has found not a "single file or record" to show any culpability of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram in the 2G spectrum allocation, its chairman P C Chacko said justifying the clean chit to them in the draft report.
Apparently seeking to pacify an angry BJP, Joint Parliamentary Committee chief P C Chacko on Tuesday dismissed reports that the panel has named former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in its draft report in the 2G scam.
Responding to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's rejection of the Bharatiya Janata Party's demand -- that he appear before the Joint Parliamentary Committee in connection to the 2G spectrum allocation case -- the opposition on Wednesday said if the PM had nothing to hide, he should not shy away from the panel.
Both Houses have been witnessing a ruckus over the Rafale fighter jet deal and Cauvery river issue, among other matters.
Politics is going to get even more sharply polarised in the weeks and months to come. And the 2G scam is not going to die down so easily, says Neerja Chowdhury
Leaking of official secrets of military operations is treason and those involved in it must be punished, the Congress said on Wednesday on the purported WhatsApp chats of Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami and demanded that the prime minister must come clean.
Corporate lobbyist Nira Radia appeared in no mood to co-operate with the Public Accounts Committee when she appeared before them for questioning on the 2G scam on Monday morning as her answers were 'evasive' and 'clever,' preferring to use the non-descript phrase, "I do not remember" in reply to most of the questions.
The all-party meet called by Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to resolve the deadlock in the Parliament ahead of the Budget session ended inconclusively on Tuesday with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Opposition sticking to their demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the 2G scam.
The Congress on Friday alleged that Facebook was being used as a weapon by the Bharatiya Janata Party to spread hate and fake news in the country and demanded that a joint parliamentary committee probe be conducted on the issue and laws be enacted to restrict Facebook and WhatsApp.
The Communist Party of India - Marxist may support the Bharatiya Janata Party's demand for a probe by the Joint Parliamentary Committee into the allegations of corruption against former telecom minister A Raja."We are of the view the government must agree to the Opposition's demand for holding a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the telecom scam. If that cannot be done, than the govt must come up with an alternative mechanism to unearth the truth," said a CPM leader.
The two Houses would now meet on December 27 as there would be no sitting on December 24 and December 26 in view of Christmas.
The director of the Centre for Science and Environment, Sunita Narayan on Friday told the joint parliamentary committee probing the cola row that pesticide level in water for soft drinks in India was high
The Joint Parliamentary Committee has squarely blamed the finance ministry and the Securities and Exchange Board of India for last year's multi-crore securities scam.
Rejecting the Opposition demand for a JPC probe into demat share scam, the Government Tuesday said SEBI was examining the matter and strictest possible action would be taken against those involved in the irregularities.
The lower house has been witnessing daily disruptions since the winter session began last week. It had passed a bill on transgender rights on Monday.
Rejecting Opposition demand for removal of P C Chacko as Joint Parliamentary Committee chairman, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar on Thursday asked the panel chief and members to work out an agreeable solution to end the current "impasse" on its report on 2G Spectrum.
Joint parliamentary committee Chairman P C Chacko on Tuesday said the committee, probing the 2G telecom spectrum allocation scam, has called all important witnesses but is yet to take a decision on calling former Telecom Minister A Raja before it.
Firmly backing DMK leader A Raja, prime accused in the 2G scam, in the wake of the controversy over filling of vacancy in the Joint Parliamentary Committee, the party today asserted it will not allow him to be made a "scapegoat".
The DDCA issue is likely to create ruckus in Parliament on Monday with parties looking to target Finance Minister Arun Jaitley as he is "practically the number two in the government".
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court direction to the Central Bureau of Investigation to carry out probe in the 2G spectrum scam from 2001-08, which includes part of the National Democratic Alliance tenure, but insisted that only a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe could bring out the whole truth.
Leader of opposition Sonia Gandhi, deputy leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, Shivraj Patil, and Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Vijay Kumar Malhotra and former minister Shanta Kumar may also be part of the committee.
The government on Thursday gave a clean chit to 12 soft drink brands, saying that their samples tested were 'well within the safety limits' prescribed for packaged drinking water at present.
'The Modi government has been taking credit for improvement in respect of the ease of doing business in India.' 'But when I look at the scams I cannot help feeling that it is too easy to do business with banks in India, if one is a Harshad Mehta, Vijay Mallya or Nirav Modi and their tribe,' says former Union home secretary Madhav Godbole.
Warning against conflict of interest of financial institutions, which have been chosen to sponsor UTI-II, the Joint Parliamentary Committee probing the stock scam and UTI muddle, has recommended that sponsors.
Gandhi used a purported audio clip to allege that Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar is 'blackmailing' Modi.
Amid a stalemate between the government and the Opposition over the issue, the House failed to transact any significant business and was adjourned for the day.
Joint Parliamentary Committee Chairman P C Chacko on Wednesday rejected Bharatiya Janata Party leader Yashwant Sinha's demand for Prime Minister Minister Manmohan Singh's appearance before the panel probing the 2G issue, saying the committee has "passed that phase".
Congress has repeatedly alleged a "scam" in the purchase of Rafale fighter jets claiming the cost per aircraft in 2012 was agreed at Rs 526.10 crore while the one signed by the Modi government costs 7.5 billion (Rs 1,670.70 crore per aircraft).
Ending its nearly two-month-old boycott, Bharatiya Janata Party members on Thursday attended the meeting of Joint Parliamentary Committee on the 2G scam and said they would continue to press for summoning of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram as witnesses.
Opposition members said the former finance minister had misled the Lok Sabha on the Calcutta Stock Exchange payment crisis and the UTI fiasco.
He was suffering from lung cancer for last several months, West Bengal CPI secretary Swapan Banerjee said.
Senior Congress leaders admit that the JPC issue has boomeranged against the party, reports Renu Mittal.
BJP-led NDA has said it will strongly demand that the Telangana Bill be brought in the Winter Session of Parliament and press for debates on issues like internal security, violence against women and subversion of constitutional bodies like JPC on 2G scam.
Former Telecom Minister A Raja, the main accused in 2G spectrum scam, has told the Joint Parliamentary Committee that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was in the loop over policy decisions and has accused Attorney General G E Vahanvati of telling a "series of untruths" against him.
Documents related to 2G spectrum allocation cannot be accessed by the public till the Joint Parliamentary Committee completes its probe and submits its report, the Central Information Commission has stated. The JPC, which is probing the high-profile scam, has directed the finance ministry not to reveal any information till it completes the probe.
