Joshi keeps cards close to chest,all eyes on Speaker

Sources close to Joshi refused to divulge what he planned to do next

The uncertainty over the fate of the PAC draft report on recent developments in telecom sector continued on Friday as experts debated the options before committee chairman Murli Manohar Joshi in the light of what happened on Thursday.

One reason for the lack of any forward movement was the absence of Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar from the Capital. Sources said she was in the Northeast and was would be available only on Saturday.

Sources close to Joshi refused to divulge what he planned to do next. Joshi went to his Parliament House office,where he

met officials and some PAC members. The sources disclosed he made queries regarding the working of the system in the light of the Congress-DMK charge that the draft report had been outsourced. It is an extraordinary allegation,which needs a close examination, the sources said. They felt that unless thoroughly probed,anybody could say the same about any parliamentary committee report in future,which would bring their working under a cloud of doubt.

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Former Lok Sabha secretary-general Subhash Kashyap told The Indian Express that Joshi had two options at the moment. He could re-convene the meeting which he had adjourned on Thursday and seek the adoption of the draft report. In case he felt that no purpose would be served,he could send it to the Speaker along with a note explaining the situation to her. It would be for the Speaker to take a view then.

Kashyap said what had happened at the PAC meeting was unprecedented. Once the chairman had adjourned the meeting,whatever a section of the committee did thereafter has no legal status, he said and added that it was apparent a section of the committee was determined to stall the report.

Another expert,requesting anonymity,said,It is true there is no provision for voting on a report of the PAC,the members are free to move amendments when the draft is discussed,paragraph-by-paragraph,by the panel. He said the draft is re-written after incorporating these amendments. Since this process has not been gone through,the document remains just a draft, he said and expressed doubt if Joshi could submit it to the Speaker.

The BJP Friday fielded Yashwant Sinha to mount a counter-attack on the government. Speaking to the media,Sinha said the report was based on facts and evidence and felt that it should be submitted to the Speaker.

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The Prime Minister and the then Finance Minister,according to him,had willy-nilly become a party to the scam. I charge the Prime Minister and the then finance minister with direct complicity in this matter. They have not only not done their constitutional duty,but willy-nilly become a party to this scam, he said.

On the other hand,MoS for Parliamentary Affairs Ashwini Kumar attacked Joshi for seeking to push for the adoption of the report in indecent haste. Parts of the report,he said,had been legally vitiated because of prima facie disconnect between evidence brought before the PAC and the conclusion drawn.