Senior BJP leader and Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman Murli Manohar Joshi has written a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar requesting her to ensure that the authority of the PAC and CAG is not impinged upon by ministers. Dr Joshi has asked the Speaker to take “prompt” steps to stop “such constitutional impropriety” by ministers. He has asked whether it was appropriate for a minister, particularly the one holding the charge of the ministry concerned, to cast aspersions on the CAG report after it has been tabled in the House.
Telecom minister Kapil Sibal had recently rubbished the findings of the CAG in 2G spectrum allocation that the loss to the exchequer was `1.76 lakh crores and said the calculations were “erroneous”.
Dr Joshi has also questioned whether Mr Sibal had expressed “such views of far-reaching implications and consequences with the knowledge and permission” of Prime Minister. In the letter dated January 19, the PAC chairman has mentioned that the Speaker is the only authority to whom the committee can approach for seeking clarification from the minister on the above issues and advice the committee. Some newspapers clippings of Mr Sibal’s press conference and the CD of an interview given by the telecom minister to a TV channel, is also enclosed with the letter.
“The statement (by Mr Sibal) raises several issues regarding parliamentary propriety and preserving and respecting the independence of the CAG — an institution established by the Constitution — and the PAC, a committee elected by Parliament...,” the PAC chairman said. “...I am afraid if a situation of confrontation between ministers and other constitutional authorities and the parliamentary committees develops, then the days of healthy and vibrant democracy are numbered,” Dr Joshi wrote in the letter.