I am ready to appear before panel, PM tells PAC

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday wrote to the Public Accounts Committee expressing his willingness to appear before the panel which is looking into the 2G spectrum allocation scam.

Following up his announcement at the Congress plenary session, Dr Singh made the offer in his letter to PAC Chairman Murli Manohar Joshi, sources said, without elaborating.

Addressing the concluding day of the Congress plenary, Dr Singh had said he would be 'happy to appear' before the PAC though there was no precedent and he intended to write to Joshi in this regard.

"I wish to state categorically that I have nothing to hide from the public at large and as a proof of my bonafides, I intend to write to the chairman of the PAC that I shall be happy to appear before the PAC, if it chooses to ask me to do so," Dr Singh had said.

Contending that the Opposition was 'falsely propagating' that the government was shying away from a joint parliamentary committee probe to prevent the prime minister from appearing before it, Dr Singh said he has "nothing to hide from the public".

Dr Singh's letter to the PAC comes on a day when the comptroller and auditor general, whose report on a presumed loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the exchequer in 2G spectrum allocation created a storm in Parliament, will appear before the PAC.

The PAC will continue with its examination of the controversial allocation of 2G radio waves and Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai is expected to put forth his point of view before the panel.

The CAG report has provided enough ammunition for the Opposition, including the Bharatiya Janata Party and Left parties, to target the government and it is insisting that only a JPC can bring out the truth in what they allege is the "biggest scam in independent India".

The entire Opposition stalled proceedings in the month-long winter session of Parliament on the demand for JPC into the 2G spectrum scam that resulted in a washout of the session. The decision to ask Rai to appear before the powerful parliamentary committee was taken during its last meeting earlier in December.

The committee has already invited views and suggestions on the 2G spectrum allocation. A Raja, who has been questioned by the CBI in connection with alleged irregularities in the spectrum allocation, was forced to resign on November 14 as the telecom minister.