The Public Accounts Committee has the mandate to investigate any scam but the BJP wants a JPC to probe the 2G Spectrum allocation scandal, the parliamentary panel's chairperson and party leader Murli Manohar Joshi said today.
"PAC works according to the Constitution. PAC has a constitutional mandate. We have been appointed by Parliament under a constitutional obligation to chase the Rupee. The rupee which has been stolen and belongs to the taxpayers. These are mandatory duties to check where it has gone," Joshi said outside Parliament House.
He was replying to a question on whether PAC had the powers to investigate all aspects of the 2G Spectrum scam in case a JPC was not formed.
Asked if PAC had a limited mandate vis-a-vis a JPC, he said, "I have been saying that I don't know why the government doesn't want to form a JPC. They will nominate the Chairman, they will nominate its officials. PAC is elected, you cannot make any changes in it."
There are reports that Joshi has been batting for the PAC, arguing it is capable of investigating all aspects of the scam. The BJP leadership has maintained that a JPC is the only body which has the powers to summon ministers and look into the scam.
"Everything is good or bad depending upon how it works. PAC has worked earlier and people have been called. PAC works and it has been working. It has also exposed many things. It all depends upon how the mood of the House is to have a JPC," Joshi said.
He insisted that JPC was a "big demand of everybody".
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"I have heard that even in the government alliance there are many who are demanding a JPC," he said.
The former union minister maintained that PAC would continue to investigate the matter even if a JPC is formed.
"PAC has been investigating (the 2G Spectrum scam) and nobody has stopped it. It will continue with the investigations which it has been doing since June," Joshi said.