The JPC had decided to look into the issuance of 281 licences from 1994 onwards pertaining to cellular and basic telephony.
The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the second generation mobile telephony spectrum scam on Wednesday began examining the telecom policy pursued during the NDA rule as it sought to know the quantum of losses incurred during that period and decided to summon the then attorney general Soli Sorabjee in this connection.
The JPC had decided to look into the issuance of 281 licences from 1994 onwards pertaining to cellular and basic telephony.
Following its meeting held on Wednesday wherein secretary, telecommunication, Chandrashekharan deposed, the panel has directed him to present complete information regarding the issue.
This would include the list of licences issued during the period and those rejected along with reasons, JPC chairperson PC Chacko said.
The panel has also decided to probe issues emanating out of the CAG’s report number six of 2000, pertaining to NDA rule, in which the CAG pointed towards huge loss suffered by the exchequer without quantifying the same. The loss was caused after the then Cabinet on July 6, 1999 took a decision to shift from the fixed licensing regime to the revenue sharing one.
The JPC has decided to summon the then attorney general Soli Sorabjee as the cabinet had changed the policy on his his advice, he said.
Meanwhile, speaker Meira Kumar has permitted parallel probes by JPC and PAC into the scam. Kumar has reportedly ruled that the two parliamentary panels can go ahead with their respective work “amicably”.
She also allayed fears expressed by the JPC on whether two former NDA ministers can continue as JPC members in wake of objections related to conflict of interest. “It is not fit to raise objections now as no one objected when Jaswant Singh and Yashwant Sinha were elected JPC members,” she said.
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