Logjam over JPC meet on 2G reaches LS Speaker's office

Following differences between BJP and Congress members and the decision of Speaker Meira Kumar to talk to the leaders of the opposition party, the October 3 meeting of the JPC where Attorney General G E Vahanvati was to appear as a witness has been cancelled.

JPC Chairman P C Chacko had met Kumar on Saturday after she sought a briefing on the issue.

"I placed the position before her. She said she will talk to the BJP leaders to resolve the matter. In the meantime, I decided to cancel the October 3 meeting so that the Speaker can talk to them before we meet again," Chacko told PTI.

The decision to cancel the meeting also comes against the backdrop of differences among Congress members of the Committee over calling the Attorney General as a witness.

Some Congress members, including Manish Tewari, had claimed a lawyer can't be asked to appear before a committee on the advice he has given to the government as it was against the principles of governance.

"A lawyer can't be asked to explain a decision he gives or does not give to his client," said a Congress member.

BJP members in JPC had walked out in the last two meetings accusing Chacko of being biased when he refused to take a call on calling the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister as witnesses.

He said he would not take a call on the demand of BJP on his own and go by the "collective wisdom" of the Committee.