JPC to question finance secy over controversial note on 2G auction

The controversial March 25 note of the Finance Ministry on 2G auction will be examined by the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) in its hearing next week when finance secretary R S Gujaral will appear before it.

The JPC will question Gujaral on the note which was sent to the PMO and suggested that P Chidambaram, the then finance minister, could have prevented the scam.

The JPC, chaired by senior Congress member of Parliament PC Chacko, will meet on January 11 and 12, sources said.

The covering letter to the note had said that the note was seen by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

Earlier, the JPC had summoned secretary of economic affairs, R Gopalan, and Gujaral on October 31 seeking their explanation on why the 2G note was not provided to the committee. Gopalan had told the committee that the note had nothing new in it as it was a post-facto compilation of documents on the 2G issue, the sources said.

Most of the non-UPA members had reportedly told the finance ministry official that they were not satisfied with the reply and that the ministry should provide the JPC with all documents, which had helped in the compilation of the controversial note. The finance ministry is learnt to have told the JPC that it will come back to it with the relevant documents.

The Opposition BJP has alleged that the finance ministry note seen by Mukherjee has been tampered with. On January 12, the committee will also take oral evidence of J S Sarma, who was former secretary of the DoT from July 1, 2005, to July 17, 2006.