JPC meeting on 2G report postponed

The 30-member JPC, which is divided over the content of the report, was scheduled to meet at 3 pm today

The meeting of the joint parliamentary committee (JPC) on 2G spectrum allocation to finalise its draft report has been postponed, sources said Thursday.

The 30-member JPC, which is divided over the content of the report, was scheduled to meet at 3 pm Thursday.

"The meeting has been postponed and is likely to be held next week," a source said.

The Congress core group met Thursday to discuss the issue. In attendance were Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Defence Minister A K Antony, Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath.

The draft JPC report had laid the blame for the losses to the public exchequer on account of faulty allocation of spectrum and grant of licences on former telecom minister A Raja, clearing Manmohan Singh and P Chidambaram of any wrongdoing.

The JPC is divided over the culpability of Raja, whose note submitted to the panel has stated that everything he did was with the knowledge of the prime minister.

In 2011, an entire winter session of parliament was washed out as the BJP did not allow either house to run till a JPC probe was set up.

The issue came up after the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) alleged a presumptive loss of Rs.1.76 lakh crore in the allocation of 2G spectrum licences during the UPA-I government 2004-09.