Will JPC crack the whip on the troubled PM?

Thrissur (Kerala), Mar 6: After the UPA government is experiencing some major upheavals lately after the various scam allegations and the latest one being the DMK's pull out from the alliance acting as the final nail in the coffin; there seem to be more trouble brewing.

The Joint Parliamentary committee (JPC) sword still loom large over the UPA government to probe into the mega 2G spectrum scam. The recently-chosen Chairman of the JPC, P C Chacko had a no-nonsense approach to the controversy surrounding the scam and said, “The JPC has the powers to summon anyone including the Prime Minister as witness. Since the period of probe dates back to 1992, the committee can summon former Prime Ministers and ministers also. The present Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has expressed willingness to appear before the parliamentary panel even before."

After differences emerged on who would constitute the committee, Chacko commented, “Most members of the JPC are likely to have strong views on the spectrum allocation issues and it will be a challenging task to carry them together and come to a consensual report."

On the challenging task ahead, Chacko commented, “The JPC will have its first meeting during the current session of Parliament after finding out the convenience of the members. The question of who all should be summoned as witnesses will be decided only after that."

On the complexity of the scam that has even crossed the country because of the clandestine deals as well as the technical aspects of the case, Chacko sounded confident and ready to face the challenges head-on and said, “It is unfortunate that the JPC doesn't have the back-up of expert infrastructure to conduct its probe on such issues. It can call anyone as witness and seek views. But ultimately the committee will have to conduct the probe by itself."

OneIndia News