With both The Joint Parliamentary Committee and The Public Accounts Committee now Investigating The Infamous 2G Spectrum scam, a fresh dispute over The Scope and Jurisdiction of The Committees could hamper the very Idea of Initiating a probe into The Biggest loot that India had Ever Seen.
Also, the JPC or the PAC can only look at the documents and examine ministry officials who testify before the committee. The parliamentary committees can arrive at independent conclusions based on documents placed before them and members of the committee can only place dissent notes if they do not agree with the majority. Furthermore, prosecution of individuals and cancellation of licences are executive functions which can only be initiated by the government. A JPC report can recommend the prosecution of a particular person or the cancellation of certain licences. However, the government can always disagree with the JPC’s findings and refuse to take action.
In another development, in a letter addressed to the JPC members before it met on March 24, JPC chairman Chacko asked them to intimate any pecuniary or other interest on subjects to be enquired by the committee. Chacko’s letter follows reports that some Congress members had raised questions on the tenability of the presence of 2 former BJP Ministers, Yashwant Sinha and Jaswant Singh, in the committee. As the Finance minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, Sinha presided over the Group of Ministers (GoM), which went into the issue of fixed-service providers being allowed limited mobility.
Jaswant Singh was a member of the group. Congress has asked how the two would be able to judge the decisions that may have been taken by the GoMs of which they were a part. The BJP, however, has questioned the rationale of the members of the Congress on the ground that they had no ‘personal’ conflict of interest on the mentioned telecom related issues.
The issues of accountability, transparency & governance are huge concerns for the UPA government. With the probe now extending to the tenure of the NDA government as well, we wonder whether the findings of both these committees, set up to investigate the scam in detail, will only be a cover up or not.
In another development, in a letter addressed to the JPC members before it met on March 24, JPC chairman Chacko asked them to intimate any pecuniary or other interest on subjects to be enquired by the committee. Chacko’s letter follows reports that some Congress members had raised questions on the tenability of the presence of 2 former BJP Ministers, Yashwant Sinha and Jaswant Singh, in the committee. As the Finance minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, Sinha presided over the Group of Ministers (GoM), which went into the issue of fixed-service providers being allowed limited mobility.
Jaswant Singh was a member of the group. Congress has asked how the two would be able to judge the decisions that may have been taken by the GoMs of which they were a part. The BJP, however, has questioned the rationale of the members of the Congress on the ground that they had no ‘personal’ conflict of interest on the mentioned telecom related issues.
The issues of accountability, transparency & governance are huge concerns for the UPA government. With the probe now extending to the tenure of the NDA government as well, we wonder whether the findings of both these committees, set up to investigate the scam in detail, will only be a cover up or not.
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
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IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM Best B School India
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age WomanIIPM's Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
IIPM Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet Hooliganism
Arindam Chaudhuri: We need Hazare's leadership
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
