PM writes to Joshi, ready to appear before PAC
By IANSMonday, December 27, 2010
NEW DELHI - Backing his assurance to the Congress plenary a week ago, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday wrote to chairman of parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Murli Manohar Joshi and conveyed his willingness to appear before the panel in connection with the 2G spectrum scam.
To the best of my knowledge, the PAC takes evidence from the secretaries of the departments concerned or the heads of departments or the public sector undertakings, Manmohan Singh wrote in his letter to Joshi, also a senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader.
However, in view of the recent propaganda that the prime minister is unwilling to be questioned by a parliamentary committee, I would like to inform you that I am willing to appear before the PAC should the committee choose to seek clarifications from the prime minister, though I believe there is no precedent of the prime minister appearing before a PAC, he wrote.
A week ago, Manmohan Singh had announced at the end of the Congress plenary here that he would be “happy to appear” before the PAC and that he intended to write to Joshi in this regard.
“I wish to state categorically that I have nothing to hide from the public at large, and as proof of my bonafides I intend to write to the chairman of the PAC that I shall be happy to appear before the PAC, if it chooses to ask me to do so,” the prime minister had said.
Manmohan Singh’s letter to the PAC comes on the day when the Comptroller and Auditor General, whose report on a presumed loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the exchequer in 2G spectrum allocation triggered an uproar in parliament, appeared before the PAC.
Vinod Rai, the CAG, appeared before the 22-member PAC, chaired by Joshi, in Parliament House in the morning.
The opposition has been insistent on its demand for a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) to probe the 2G spectrum scandal. It stuck to the demand even after the prime minister agreed to appear before the PAC.
