Telecom Lead India: The Lok Sabha has extended the tenure of JPC on 2G spectrum scam up to the last day of Monsoon Session of Parliament.
The Monsoon Session is likely to begin around July 23.
The decision to extend the tenure follows joint Parliamentary Committee chairman of PC Chacko’s resolution in the Lok Sabha seeking extension of the JPC beyond the Budget Session.
After Lok Sahba Speaker Meira Kumar expressed her inability to remove him as JPC Chairman as demanded by 15 opposition members of the committee, PC Chacko had started contacting members to hold a meeting.
With the term of the Committee coming to an end on May 10 along with the end of the Budget session, the panel would not be able to adopt the draft report before Parliament is adjourned sine die.
Fifteen members from Opposition parties including from former UPA allies DMK and Trinamool Congress, had earlier written separate letters to the Speaker contending that they have no confidence in the JPC Chairman and had appealed to her to immediately remove him. They had also rejected the draft report.
Chacko is unlikely to rush with the adoption of the report since he does not have any support. While SP has not sought Chacko’s removal, it has made it clear that till Raja is not called as a witness, it would not support the report. SP has one member in the panel. BSP, with two members, is likely to side with UPA.
Indian telecom industry will face more uncertainties to solve the 2G scam by punishing the culprits. It’s more evident that politics is spoiling Indian telecom industry than competition or economy conditions. The changes made by the PMO and law minister in the recent CBI report on coal scam are strong evidence of lack of transparency in the judicial system.
If such things continue to happen, mobile industry should be governed by the industry itself and not by bureaucrats or politicians.
