BJP, Left dismissive about PM`s offer of appearing before PAC

New Delhi, Dec 20 (PTI) BJP and the Left parties on
Monday dismissed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's offer of
appearing before the Public Accounts Committee in the 2-G
Spectrum scam, saying he had no right to choose the forum of
his inquiry and a JPC should be set up if he had nothing to
hide.
Leaders of BJP and the Left said a JPC was needed to
seek answers to even questions like formation of the
government and whether the system had been manipulated, which
could not be addressed by a PAC having a limited mandate.
"If he believes that he or his government has not done
anything wrong, then why is he getting into this PAC vs JPC
debate? JPC is a Parliamentary committee and it is its mandate
to probe," senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley told reporters.
"He (Singh) should appear before the JPC and the
government should give a mandate to the JPC and it should
agree for it," he added while reacting to the Prime Minister's
statement at the Congress Plenary.
Jaitley maintained that the Prime Minister could not
choose the forum of his inquiry.
On Singh's assertion that he had nothing to hide,
Jaitley said, "When he says that, then we would say that there
are many things which are still hidden."
The BJP leader said the Government will have to answer
many questions like "How was this Government formed, who chose
the party which will get the Telecom portfolio and which
individual would get the portfolio from that party, who had
done that. Was there a role played by the industrial houses
and the lobbyists?"
"The Prime Minister said that I have nothing to hide and
Caesar's wife should be above suspicion. Caesar's wife never
chose the forum of her own inquiry but he has chosen the
forum also by saying that he was ready to appear before the
PAC," Jaitley said.
He insisted that the Prime Minister is "personally
liable" for the appointment of P J Thomas as the CVC and
"subversion" of the CBI.
He said the Government must answer questions as to how
a "tainted minister" was allowed to continue for three years
after the reports of the scam came in 2007 and why action was
not taken against him.
"All these questions can't be answered before a
committee looking into auditor's report. This has be done
before that Parliament of India or a JPC appointed by it,"
Jaitley said.
He maintained that the issue of 2G spectrum allocation
to be probed was "purely political".