CAG willing to appear before JPC again on 2G scam

Against the backdrop of dispute over the figure of Rs1.76 lakh crore loss in 2G spectrum allocation, CAG Vinod Rai has offered to appear before the JPC looking into the 2G scam once again.

Rai recently wrote to JPC offering to make himself along with his officials "available" whenever their "assistance" is sought.

Rai, along with other officials of the Comptroller and Auditor General, had appeared before the JPC on May 30 to brief the panel on CAG report on 2G spectrum allocation.

The CAG said that his officials have made "earnest effort" to supply the JPC with all the documents and records sought by it on the issue.

Meanwhile, Rai and his deputy Rehka Gupta will explain to Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) tomorrow on how the CAG arrived at the Rs 1.76 lakh crore figure.

RP Singh, former Director General of Audit (Post and Telecommunications), was the lead auditor in 2G spectrum allocation and had reportedly disputed the loss figure of Rs1.76 lakh crore. Singh had reportedly said the losses were to the tune of Rs 2,645 crore only.

Singh, who has since retired, has been separately called as a witness before the PAC on Monday.

In a letter to PAC, Singh has maintained that under RTI, information was sought by an applicant requiring copies of correspondence between him and office of the CAG.

"In this context, I am to state that I just complied with the RTI Act...I have not appeared for any interview to media, print or electronic..." he said.

He also forwarded the draft audit report and other related documents to the PAC.