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Ahead of the first meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), scheduled for March 24, on alleged irregularities in grant of telecom licences and the Telecom policy from 1998, its Chairman P.C. Chacko has asked all the 29 members to inform him of “any conflict of their interest” on any of the matters to be taken up by the committee.
In a letter addressed to the JPC members, Mr. Chacko asked them to intimate him about any pecuniary or any other interest on subjects to be enquired into by the committee. It will have its first meeting on March 24.
“It is a routine letter before commencement of the sitting of any Parliamentary Committee. I have asked the members to convey their views keeping in mind the terms of reference of the JPC,” Mr. Chacko told The Hindu.
Congress' poser
Mr. Chacko's letter assumes significance as some members of the Congress had raised questions on the “tenability” of the presence of two former BJP Ministers, Yashwant Sinha and Jaswant Singh, in the committee.
As Finance Minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, Mr. Sinha presided over the Group of Ministers (GoM), which went into the issue of fixed-service providers being allowed limited mobility. Mr. Singh was a member of the group.
Mr. Singh later headed the GoM on the Unified Access Service Licence in his capacity as Finance Minister and Mr. Sinha was a member. A section of the Congress has asked how the two would be able to sit on judgment on the decisions that may have been taken by the GoMs of which they were a part.
The BJP has questioned the rationale of the members of the Congress on the ground that they had no “personal” conflict of interest on telecom related issues.
Mr. Chacko said the first meeting of the JPC would draw a schedule of meetings in the future and broad course of action to be followed. “The committee has been mandated to submit its report by the end of the monsoon session of Parliament. In effect we have about five months and we need to decide on the witnesses to be summoned and documents required,” he said.
In a letter addressed to the JPC members, Mr. Chacko asked them to intimate him about any pecuniary or any other interest on subjects to be enquired into by the committee. It will have its first meeting on March 24.
“It is a routine letter before commencement of the sitting of any Parliamentary Committee. I have asked the members to convey their views keeping in mind the terms of reference of the JPC,” Mr. Chacko told The Hindu.
Congress' poser
Mr. Chacko's letter assumes significance as some members of the Congress had raised questions on the “tenability” of the presence of two former BJP Ministers, Yashwant Sinha and Jaswant Singh, in the committee.
As Finance Minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, Mr. Sinha presided over the Group of Ministers (GoM), which went into the issue of fixed-service providers being allowed limited mobility. Mr. Singh was a member of the group.
Mr. Singh later headed the GoM on the Unified Access Service Licence in his capacity as Finance Minister and Mr. Sinha was a member. A section of the Congress has asked how the two would be able to sit on judgment on the decisions that may have been taken by the GoMs of which they were a part.
The BJP has questioned the rationale of the members of the Congress on the ground that they had no “personal” conflict of interest on telecom related issues.
Mr. Chacko said the first meeting of the JPC would draw a schedule of meetings in the future and broad course of action to be followed. “The committee has been mandated to submit its report by the end of the monsoon session of Parliament. In effect we have about five months and we need to decide on the witnesses to be summoned and documents required,” he said.