Former Union Telecom Minister A Raja has rejected Joint Parliamentary Committee chairman P C Chacko's offer giving him a chance to respond on the 2G spectrum allocation issue in written submissions, saying he wants to personally depose before the panel to tender evidence on the matter.
DMK leader T R Baalu said he had given a notice of breach of parliamentary privilege against Chacko over the leakage of the JPC draft report.
Amid opposition plans to corner the JPC Chairman over clean chit to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the much-talked about meeting of the panel to adopt the draft report on the 2G scam was on Thursday postponed following death of a Lok Sabha member.
A meeting of Joint Parliamentary Committee examining 2G scam on Tuesday saw heated exchanges as Bharatiya Janata Party members demanded summoning of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and top PMO officials which was countered by Congress members with their own list of witnesses that included all National Democratic Alliance telecom ministers.
The Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G scam is set to get a fresh extension beyond September 6 with the Lok Sabha on Wednesday unanimously adopting a resolution to this effect.
Chairman of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G scam P C Chacko on Wednesday ruled out summoning Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to depose before the panel, saying there was no such precedent.
The Question Hour in Lok Sabha has been disrupted every day since March 13.
An "exhaustive" list of witnesses, which includes former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, was on Tuesday placed before the JPC probing the 2G spectrum allocation scam, but a decision whether to call them was deferred.
The Joint Parliamentary Committee report on 2G spectrum scam, which was to have been tabled in Lok Sabha on September 30 is further delayed until the Winter Session of Parliament.
In a strongly-worded letter to Joint Parliamentary Committee chief P C Chacko, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader T R Baalu has said the committee's report on the 2G scam and the Congress leader's attempts to rush for the passage of it did not exactly inspire confidence.
Hours after Congress leader Manish Tewari on Thursday said the government might get the Digital Data Protection Bill classified as a money bill, Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw refuted the charge and termed it a "normal bill".
The Unite dProgressive Alliance government and the Opposition will debate in Parliament on Thursday the terms of reference of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on 2G spectrum scam and pass a resolution.
Describing the functioning of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G as "scandalous", Bharatiya Janata Party leader Yashwant Sinha on Tuesday demanded that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram appear before it for the truth to come out.
Miffed at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's remarks that Parliament should not pre-judge the 2G issue, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jaswant Singh on Tuesday said the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the matter should be wound up.
A former chairman of TRAI on Friday told the JPC probing the 2G spectrum scam that the then NDA government did not seek the opinion of the telecom regulator on the issue of allocating "excess spectrum" to some private companies in 2002.
Ahead of the budget session, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Wednesday expressed readiness to explore "all possible approaches" to end the deadlock in Parliament on the issue of a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into 2G spectrum scam.
...why are the government is running away from a Joint Parliamentary Committee
On August 22 also, BJP members had walked out of the JPC meeting alleging that Congress members had used foul language when they sought inclusion of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram in the finalised list of witnesses to be called before the JPC.
However, the AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the SC committee has limited terms of reference and 'cannot bring out the deep nexus between' the prime minister and the billionaire businessman.
Yashwant Sinha, Bharatiya Janata Party's member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G spectrum scam, on Saturday wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar requesting her to reject the panel's report.
Government on Friday did not rule out setting up of a Joint Parliamentary Committee to probe into the Indian Premier League controversy with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee saying a decision would be taken after 'due diligence.'
Nothing could trivialise the sanctity of Parliament than a JPC on the IPL. We need a JPC to cover the tax havens and its impact on the Indian economy, says M R Venkatesh.
Pawar said some programmes have been decided for the unity of the alliance.
Addressing a press conference, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said efforts are being made since the last few days that a 'formula' or middle path is found with both the Opposition and the government relenting.
The Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G spectrum allocation has concluded that Attorney General G E Vahanvati was aware of the procedure approved by the Department of Telecommunication on first-come-first served criteria in file notings.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has rejected Bharatiya Janata Party leader Yashwant Sinha's demand that he depose before the Joint Parliamentary Committee in the 2G spectrum scam.
It will be presented in the Lok Sabha next week in its original form.
Sticking to its demand that A Raja be allowed to depose before the JPC on 2G, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Thursday said the panel's report will be a "waste" if he does not get an opportunity to give an explanation on the allegations.
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday ruled out a Joint P Parliamentary Committee investigation into alleged irregularities in the 2G spectrum allocation, but appealed to the Opposition to let Parliament function smoothly.
Former Telecom Minister A Raja's written submission before the Joint Parliamentary Committee, in which he had claimed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was in the loop over policy decisions, does not form part of the panel's report on 2G spectrum scam.
The meeting would finalise the Committee's roadmap, including witnesses to be called and documents to be sought.
The Joint Parliamentary Committee set up to probe allegations of pesticides in soft drinks has expanded its ambit to cover juices, iced tea, milk and milk products, liquor and even bottled water.
Congress spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan was named a member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee into the 2G spectrum scam after her colleague Abhishek Singhvi recused himself taking the plea that he had appeared for cellular operators in the court as a senior advocate.
The Joint Parliament Committee report, tabled in Parliament on Thursday, has indicted former finance secretary Ajit Kumar for failing to resolve in time the redemption problem of the Unit Trust of India.
While there are divergent views within the ruling Congress party on the anarchy and chaos within the government and Parliament, the two predominant views are: why is the government not agreeing to the opposition demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe (into the 2G spectrum scam), and the second the stalemate has reached such proportion that some leaders are even talking that if there is no JPC, the country may well be headed towards a mid-term poll which nobody wants
The demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into disclosures by retail giant Walmart on lobbying in India was made by several members in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
In an exclusive interview with Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt, BJP MP Harin Pathak, a member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee probing the 2G scam, says without mincing words that panel chief P C Chacko cannot decide exclusively whether to summon prime accused former Union Telecom Minister A Raja or not.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the misuse of the Central Bureau of Investigation by the Congress led-United Progressive Alliance government.
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