New Delhi:
The note that questioned P Chidambaram's actions during the telecom scam continues to cause political aftershocks. The note was sent by the Finance Ministry in March this year to the Prime Minister's Office. It suggests that in 2008, when the telecom scam unfolded, Mr Chidambaram as Finance Minister could have enforced an auction of spectrum. The fact that A Raja chose not to sell spectrum to the highest bidders has been underscored by experts as a major mistake. The Finance Ministry's note, which seemed to hint that a section of the government questioned whether Mr Chidambaram acted strongly enough, provided a windfall to the opposition and led to new demands that his role be formally investigated by the CBI. The Supreme Court is now considering that option.
Today, the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) set up to assign accountability for the telecom scam asked the government to explain why the controversial note was not shared with the panel. Secretary Economic Affairs R Gopalan and Secretary Revenue R S Gujaral appeared before the JPC, and said that the note was not shared because it did not offer any new information, and served as a post-facto compilation of documents. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has, in the past, said the note served as an inter-ministerial background paper, which was prepared after inputs from different departments.
Opposition members of the JPC have said that all documents used to prepare the Finance Ministry's note should be shared.
The JPC has also asked the Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai to appear before it on November 14. In November last year, Mr Rai's revelation that the telecom scam had cost the country 1.76 lakh crores shook up the country and the political landscape. Since then, documents have revealed that RP Singh, who was the main auditor to examine spectrum allocation, believed the scam was worth much less - 2,000 crores. Because his estimate varied so greatly from Mr Rai's, the JPC is expected to summon Mr Singh as well. He retired as the Director General of Audit (Post and Telecommunication).