Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar on Thursday rejected the Opposition demand to remove P C Chacko, chairman of the JPC probing the 2G scam.
In her four-page letter to the 15 MPs, who earlier petitioned her expressing no-confidence in Chacko, the Speaker said that “the question of replacing the chairman of the JPC has been examined in the light of the existing rules and the past practice in this regard” and that “the rules and directions are silent on the removal of the chairman of a parliamentary committee on whatsoever ground”.
“...Due to absence of express provisions in the rules, it will be difficult to remove the chairman of any parliamentary committee,” Meira Kumar said in her letter dated May 1.
The Opposition members were quick to react, with the BJP’s Ravi Shankar Prasad saying that “more than the lack of provisions in rules, it’s the lack of confidence (in JPC chairman P C Chacko) is what really matters at this stage”.
“All of us are together on the issue, and we will meet here on Friday to decide the future course of action,” DMK’s T R Baalu told Express.
The Speaker, meanwhile, also turned down some Congress members plea that BJP members Yashwant Sinha, be barred from attending JPC proceedings.