2G: 'Not inevitable to call Raja as witness before JPC'
Published: 02nd March 2013 07:37 PM | Last Updated: 02nd March 2013 07:37 PM | A+A A-
JPC Chairman P C Chacko today
said 'it is not inevitable' to call former Telecom Minister A
Raja, prime accused in the 2G spectrum allocation scam case,
before the Joint Parliamentary Committee as a witness as all
the main witnesses had been called and evidence taken.
"It is not inevitable at this juncture to call Raja as all
main witnesses have been called and evidence taken," he said.
He was responding to a query on CPI leader and Joint
Parliamentary Committee member Gurudas Dasgupta's letter to
him stressing the need to call Raja as witness.
Chacko said Raja had written to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira
Kumar to allow him tender evidence as witness before the JPC.
Several other persons have also expressed a similar desire but
it was impractical to call all of them, he said.
'A final decision, however, in this regard will be taken
after discussing it with all JPC members' Chacko told PTI.
On Feb 22, Raja had written to Meira Kumar and Chacko,
expressing willingness to appear before JPC as witness. He
claimed he has been "condemned unheard" in the 2G scam and
wanted to present his side of the story.
Chacko said JPC had asked to prepare the draft report
which would be ready by the first week of May.Thereafter a JPC
meeting would be convened to finalize it and the report would
have to be submitted before the end of the current Parliament
session on May 22, he said.
On Dasgupta's contention that Raja's name was there in
the list of witnesses prepared, Chacko said it was not correct
as no final list of witnesses had been prepared.
All members had given a list of witnesses to be called
before JPC and no final list was prepared by JPC,Chacko said.
DMK members in the JPC T R Baalu and T Siva have been
pressing Chacko to call Raja as a witness.
However Congress members in JPC are against calling Raja
as witness as his deposition could be used by the opposition,
including BJP and the Left, to corner the government. Raja has
maintained he had kept the Prime Minister's Office and others
informed about his decisions on 2G licencing issue.