Kolkata, May 7(ANI): Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman Murli Manohar Joshi on Saturday said that Congress party leaders were trying to sabotage the panel's 2G draft report as it has accused several ministers including Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh.
Eleven of 21 PAC members had opposed the report, saying they needed more time to study the contents before they could give their approval.
Responding to statement made by Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister P.K. Bansal who said that "the place of this report is in the dustbin, since it has been rejected by the majority", Joshi said that it was in the nature of the Congress government to suppress anything that goes against them.
"The Parliamentary Affairs Minister says that we would throw this report into the dustbin, today they are throwing this report in the dustbin, tomorrow they will throw any decision of the Parliament into dustbin, day after they throw Supreme Court judgment into the dustbin, and they have the history behind it," Joshi said.
In the report, the PAC, a parliamentary body currently probing the financial irregularities observed in the telecom scam, had made shocking observations, questioning the officials of the Prime Minister's Office on their dealings with issues related to the allocation of 2G spectrum.
The leaked report also indicted former Telecom Minister A. Raja for misleading Prime Minister Dr. Singh in 2008 and Home Minister P. Chidambaram, the then-Finance Minister, for recommending to "treat the matter as closed" instead of taking action against the guilty officials.
Stung by the critical view of the PAC, several Congress party leaders dismissed the report and charged Joshi of having 'malafide intentions' of destabilizing the government.
Joshi said India's populace has the right to know where their money has been swindled, and therefore the revelations in the report should not be suppressed.
"Then they say, because this report points out to the conduct of certain ministers including the Prime Minister, therefore we don't discuss this report. That is, they want to suppress the facts from coming to the knowledge of the people. It is the people's money and the people have the right to know, the poor people have the right to know, why they are not getting electricity, roads, education, medicine, employment," Joshi said.
The telecom corruption scandal, which may have lost India 39.57 billion dollars in potential revenue, is the biggest of the several graft cases to emerge in the second term of Prime Minister Dr. Singh.
A. Raja was forced to resign from his office after the country's apex audit body, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), indicted him in its report for favouring some operators and not resorting to auction.
Raja was arrested in February by the CBI, which has been probing irregularities in the allocation of spectrum licenses since 2009.
Joshi further said that number of scandals by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government is never-ending with more and more ministers and leaders being revealed of corrupt practices.
"Everyday there is a scandal, which comes out everyday. Even today I have seen a TV channel showing the commonwealth Games chairs being auctioned in Bulandshahr district in Uttar Pradesh, what is this? Scandal after scandal, minister after minister, important members of Parliament belonging to UPA, they are all being charged of corruption," he said.
Commonwealth Games, which cost an estimated six billion dollars became embroiled in rows over leaking stadiums, filthy athletes' accommodation, and inflated tenders for equipment including treadmills, and even toilet paper. (ANI)
|
|
Read More: Bulandshahr | Congress
Comments:
