JPC examines NDA govt's telecom files

The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on telecom licensing issues is digging into the old telecom files dating back to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.

It on Wednesday asked the telecom ministry to quantify the losses to the exchequer due to the migration package and concessions given to telecom operators during the NDA regime.

The Murli Manohar Joshi-led Public Accounts Committee (PAC) had asked the United Progressive Alliance government to quantify the losses to the exchequer from the 2G scam. Now, the JPC, headed by a Congress member, wants to dig into similar losses during the NDA rule.

“We have found that the Comptroller and Auditor General of India had some adverse comments about the migration from license fee to revenue sharing method and the subsequent concessions given to telecom operators at the cabinet meeting of July 6, 1999 (when Pramod Mahajan was the telecom minister). We have asked the telecom secretary to quantify the revenue losses,” JPC Chairman P C Chacko said after Wednesday’s meeting.

Chacko claimed it would be “easy” to find out the exact amount of losses. “Just look at the initial commitments of the telecom companies and finally how much they paid. The difference can clearly show the losses,” he said. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India chairman and the revenue secretary have been asked to depose before the committee. Former attorney general Soli Sorabjee will also be summoned later, it was decided on Wednesday.

According to sources, Congress’ Manish Tiwari, CPI’s Gurudas Dasgupta and Trinamool Congress’ Kalyan Banerjee were vocal about the alleged losses during the NDA period. They even alleged there was a “cover-up” effort to show minimal losses. Chacko said Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar had ruled out objections raised by some members about the presence of NDA ministers Yashwant Sinha and Jaswant Singh in the JPC, as they were part of the telecom licensing decision in 1999.

Along with the two former ministers, Congress member Manish Tiwari, who had represented some of the telecom companies earlier as a lawyer, has been allowed to remain a member of the JPC.

But the undercurrent between the PAC and JPC was evident, as Chacko didn’t forget to take a dig at Murli Manohar Joshi without naming him. When asked if he would refer to the PAC report and the evidence collected by the committee, Chacko said officially he was not aware of the existence of any such report.

He also said the JPC was “self-sufficient”, indicating he would not look at the evidences collected by the PAC.