2G probe: Speaker Kumar steps in as JPC, PAC battle for primacy

Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar on Friday sought to defuse the turf war between the Parliamentary Accounts Committee and the Joint Parliamentary Committee - both investigating the 2G scam - asking them to work in close cooperation and harmony with each other, according to a report.

The advice from the speaker came when the battle for primacy betweeen the PAC headed by BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi and the JPC led by P C Chacko of the Congress has intensified, according to The Economic Times.

While the paper did not have the details of the advice, it cited Parliament sources to say this meant that the two committees have been asked to avoid any disharmony while going about their task.

Chacko had publicly told the PAC to withdraw suo motu from the probe into the 2G affair, on the ground that the JPC was set up by a resolution of Parliament, which has also approved its terms and conditions. Joshi and Chacko had taken their quarrel to the Speaker by meeting her sometime back and requesting her to delineate the areas of functioning of the two Committees.

The PAC is already in the process of filing its report on the 2G spectrum case and is likely to complete it before its term ends on 30 April. It is expected to give its report in the monsoon session of Parliament.

As against this, the JPC, which has been asked to give its report by the end of the monsoon session, has held only one meeting so far, the paper points out.