2G Scam: Mr Chacko, is this anyway to run a JPC?

Are parliamentary probe panels supposed to get at the truth or merely play political games? The ongoing political tussles at the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) set up to investigate the 2G scam takes the cake. One-and-a-half years after the PM announced a JPC, the Committee is still shadow-boxing over whether or not to call Manmohan Singh or P Chidambaram to the witness-box. Or even A Raja. According to The Economic Times , while Chairman PC Chacko, a Congress faithful, is muttering darkly about the “lack of precedent”, the BJP’s Yashwant Sinha is making robust arguments for calling both, since they were crucial to the final decisions on how to price spectrum. He also points out that two earlier JPCs did call ministers for questioning. [caption id=“attachment_404984” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Will Raja be exempted from appearing before the JPC? PTI[/caption] Chacko thinks it is enough to quiz secretaries in ministries, even though it is the ministers who finally sign on the dotted line. Clearly, the JPC is not covering itself with glory. According to several reports, the committee is not even keen on calling Andimuthu Raja – allegedly the prime mover in the 2G scam and who is already being tried in a special court. The Times of India said last month that Raja is keen to depose, but Chacko’s Congress is unenthusiastic. Said the newspaper in June: “Raja’s party, the DMK, wants him to be called although the Congress may have cause to be concerned as the former minister has repeatedly claimed he had kept PMO in the loop over 2G decisions.” The Economic Times, however, gave another reason for pussyfooting around whether or not to call Raja: “Another issue roiling the committee is whether to summon Raja as a witness. Two members of the JPC say that Raja’s own party, the DMK, is not keen that he depose, fearing it might further embarrass DMK chief Karunanidhi’s daughter Kanimozhi, who has been charged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) of accepting a Rs 200-crore bribe from DB Realty.” What is clear is that both the Congress and the DMK may have some vested interest in not summoning their ministers for a grilling. Poser to JPC: How can you get to the truth without even questioning the alleged chief culprit – Raja? Or his bosses, the PM and the finance minister.