2G scam: RBI Governor Subbarao to appear before JPC

New Delhi, Sept 7:

Governor D Subbarao, who was the Finance Secretary when

licences were allocated, will appear before the Joint Parliamentary Committee examining the issue as a witness on Sept 18. He was the Finance Secretary between Apr 2007 and Sept 2008.

The controversial 2G radiowave licences were allocated in Jan 2008. Sources said the meeting of the committee slated for Sept 14, in which former Cabinet Secretary KM Chandrasekhar was to appear, has been rescheduled.

A fresh date will be decided to call Chandrasekhar, who was the top bureaucrat between Jun 2007 and Jun 2011. The JPC meeting on Sept 18 is taking place after a gap of nearly a month. BJP members had stormed out of the proceedings on Aug 22 insisting on calling Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram as witnesses before the panel. Sources said besides the former Cabinet Secretary, the other "essential witnesses" the committee seeks to examine before drafting the report are the Telecom and Finance Secretaries, former Law Secretary, the present incumbent and the Attorney General.

It is not yet clear whether the six BJP members on the panel will attend the next meeting. Amid growing bitterness between ruling and opposition sides in the 30-member JPC, five out of the six BJP members present at the meeting had walked out, claiming that Congress members had used foul language when they pressed for calling Singh and Chidambaram. Congress had refuted the allegation.

PTI