Chacko's act amounts denial of justice to Raja: Subramanian Swamy

THRISSUR: Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy today said denial of opportunity to former Telecom Minister A Raja to depose before the JPC on 2G scam amounted to "breach of the principle of natural justice" on the part of the panel Chairman P C Chacko.

Swamy said the opposition committed a "strategic mistake" by agreeing to the Government's proposal to form the JPC instead of pressing for strengthening the Public Accounts Committee ( PAC) which was examining the 2G issue.

"Chacko's conclusion in the draft report of the JPC that Raja alone is responsible for corruption involved in issuance of 2G Spectrum licences amounted to the breach of the principles of natural law of justice," Swamy told PTI here.

Swamy said as chairman of the panel, mandated with the task of examining the policies and their interpretations of successive governments, Chacko should have considered Raja's request to allow him to depose before the committee.

The opposition parties also committed a strategic mistake in insisting for the formation of a JPC to examine the alleged irregularities in the 2G spectrum allocation issue,he said.

Instead,they (opposition) should have collectively pressed for strengthening the PAC as it was a constitutional body. On the contrary, JPC was formed "to serve the interests of the ruling party", he said.

The opposition parties should have tried to have the 2G scam examined by the PAC whose Chairman (M M Joshi of BJP) was from the opposition. PAC members were elected through a single transferable vote in Parliament and had greater scope for an independent inquiry than the JPC, he said.

It was obvious that JPC members belonging to the treasury benches were bound to protect the interests of the ruling party, as had happened in the case of Bofors scam, Swamy said.

He said opposition has a justification on carrying on their protest in Parliament demanding Chacko's resignation as JPC chairman and press for removal of Law Minister Ashwani Kumar in the light of the CBI Director Ranjit Sinha's affidavit in the supreme court.