Govt. will have to give action taken report on PAC findings: Joshi

Public Accounts Committee Chairman Murli Manohar Joshi on Saturday said the government will have to submit an action taken report on the draft report prepared by him on the 2G scam.“The future of the report is bright. The report is now with the Speaker. It is taken to be presented before the House. The government will have to give an action taken report on it,” Mr. Joshi told a press conference in Kolkata.

Noting that it was entirely wrong to say that his report was rejected by the majority of the members, he said after the PAC meeting was adjourned some members had raised dissent once they came to know that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the then Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and some officers were named in the report.

“Such dissent is invalid as it was raised after the meeting was adjourned. Besides, the report has no note of dissent. What they have done is a tamasha (joke),” he said.Referring to the ‘election’ of Saifuddin Soz to chair the meeting which ‘rejected’ the report, Mr. Joshi said, “No Rajya Sabha member can chair the PAC.”

On the Congress demand for removal of Yashwant Sinha from the PAC, Mr. Joshi said, “He is not a member of the new committee. He was a member of the old PAC.”In reply to a question, Mr. Joshi denied that his report was an indictment of the Prime Minister and his government. “All we have said in the report is that the Prime Minister was a mute witness (to the scam). The PAC does not indict anyone.”

He said that the then Finance Minister P. Chidambaram “has not done what he should have” in preventing the scam.“The government has a duty to protect the revenue created by the common people. If it fails, the PAC recommends remedial measures. I’ll continue to chase the rupee and see it is going where it is meant for,” he said.

Alleging that the UPA and its allies were getting embroiled in fresh scams every day, he said, “Ministers are being charged with corruption and court cases are pending.”Regretting that the Samajwadi Party and BSP opposed the PAC draft report, he said, “I am trying to figure out the reason for their U-turn.”

Courtesy : The Hindu