Pranab blames PMO for 2G note 'indicting' Chidambaram

In a fresh development to the controversial note on the 2G spectrum affair sent by the finance ministry to the Prime Minister's Office, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee now says the PMO is well aware of the contents of the note, which was prepared at the PMO's instance, although the department of economic affairs was opposed to it.

Reports now say Mukherjee has, in a letter addressed to the prime minister, pointed out that it was the PMO which insisted on home minister P Chidambaram's (then finance minister) name being included in the controversial 2G note.

Pranab also said the cabinet secretariat was in the know about the controversial finance ministry note on the 2G spectrum allocation.

Mukherjee's letter to the prime minister was sent on 26 September, soon after the controversy over the first note erupted and the two leaders met in the US to fight the fire. The letter, which was somehow accessed by large sections of the media on Monday, blames officials in the PMO and the cabinet secretariat for formally circulating the earlier note.

The original note, written on 25 March and accessed a few months later by an activist through the Right to Information (RTI) Act, was widely interpreted by political pundits as pointing to long-standing differences between Mukherjee and Chidambaram, the two most senior members of the Manmohan Singh cabinet. Mukherjee's letter to the PM seems to refute this view of affairs.

Mukherjee says in the letter that the earlier finance ministry note was sent as an office memorandum because the PMO insisted on it. He says the department of economic affairs (DEA) under his ministry was not in favour of sending the note, and it was on the insistence of the joint secretary at the PMO that the note was formally circulated.

Mukherjee says if the note had not been formalised, it might not have come into the public domain or become accessible through the RTI Act. He adds that more details about how the note was drafted and circulated have come to light "on a deeper study of available records".

In the letter, written hours after the return of the two leaders from New York, Mukherjee says, "After it was highlighted in the media that Shri P Chidambaram was of the view that he had advocated auction for allocation of 2G spectrum, an exercise was initiated at the behest of the cabinet secretary beginning January 2011 to evolve a harmonised position on issues related to the allocation and pricing of 2G spectrum among various departments of the government."