As BJP, DMK move notices, Chacko says he used 'sealed cover'

New Delhi, April 22 (IANS) Facing a rap from the opposition over the leakage to the media of the JPC draft report on 2G allocation, P.C. Chacko, who chairs the parliamentary committee, Monday said he had urged members to treat the report as confidential.

"I don't know about the notice... I had urged all members to keep it confidential. I had sent it to them in sealed covers," Chacko, a Congress member of the Lok Sabha, told IANS.

According to parliament sources, BJP member Yashwant Sinha and DMK member T.R. Baalu gave breach of privilege notices against Chacko, and have been demanding his removal as chairman of the Joint Parliamentary Committee.

While the BJP is miffed that the draft report allegedly says the government incurred losses of over Rs.40,000 crore during the tenure of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the DMK is upset that its leader and former telecom minister A. Raja has been blamed for faulty 2G spectrum allocation, as also pointed out by the official auditor, CAG.

"I cannot discuss the contents of the report... but Vajpayee is not named in it," Chacko said.

The leaked report had allegedly cleared both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P. Chidambaram of any wrongdoing, while laying the blame squarely on Raja.

Raja, in turn, has asserted that everything was done in consultation with the prime minister. The former telecom minister has said he wanted to depose before the panel, but was allowed to give only a written statement.

The joint parliamentary committee on 2G will meet April 25 to finalise the report.