JPC clean chit to PM, PC in 2G scam

New Delhi: In a major relief for the UPA, the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the 2G spectrum allocation on Thursday gave Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram a clean chit in the case.A The JPC draft report says that the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister had no role in tweaking norms while allocating 2G licences.

The report further says that the main culprit in the case is then Telecom Minister A Raja, who changed the norms without informing the prime minister. The report said that 2G spectrum was allocated on a first come first serve basis. The CAG report had charged that Instead of allocating spectrum on a first come first serve basis, the telecom ministry should have adopted the auctioning method.

Reacting to the report, CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta, who is also a member of the JPC, said that the report was contradictory to facts. "The prime minister was in the know of things. This report is a Congress report," he said. "We disagree with the report, we will submit our point of view." CPI spokesperson D Raja said that his party, through its representation in the JPC, would submit a dissent note. "This is a report of the Congress. The chairman of the JPC is a Congress member. Why should we agree," he asked.

Meanwhile, BJP spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi too said her party would submit a dissent note on the JPC report. "We will submit our point of view on the JPC report. We could not have expected anything better from the JPC. It's expected to cover up acts of the government," she said.

Earlier this month, the prime minister had rejected charges levelled by senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha and refused to appear before the JPC looking into the 2G case.A In a letter to Sinha, he reiterated that neither the government nor he had anything to hide in the 2G matter.