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Sinha must depose before JPC, says Oppn

Subhomoy Bhattacharjee

Members of the Opposition in the probing last year's stock scam have forced a special session, to be convened later this month, to decide if Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha should depose before the committee.

The committee had a stormy session this week on the issue of asking Sinha to appear before it, sources said, especially in the context of his comment that he was kept in the dark about the affairs in the Unit Trust of India.

Opposition members felt it necessary to find out whether the finance ministry had reacted in time to the UTI crisis, which led to a freeze in the sale and repurchase of US-64 units.

The Opposition members' demand is an echo of the one in 1999 when the then finance minister, Manmohan Singh, had sent in his written response to the JPC probing the 1992 stock scam. Singh had not made a personal appearance before the committee.

Sources said the JPC also debated the possibility of a compromise of drafting a questionnaire for the finance minister and eliciting his response, but the proposal did not satisfy the members of the Opposition. Instead, they asked the chairman of the committee, S P M Tripathi, to take up the matter.

The issue is delicate because any deposition by the finance minister is sure to raise a lot of uncomfortable queries on the culpability of the government in the UTI crisis.

The JPC is moving towards a consensus on putting the blame on institutions responsible for the volatility and the subsequent payment crisis. It is likely to avoid pinning down individuals.

In the press conference after meeting finance ministry officials yesterday, Tripathi said the JPC report would examine the role played by each institution. Since officials kept on changing, the "present ones can only try and fathom the reasons why the earlier decisions were taken", he said.

However, the question of calling Sinha has dogged the JPC from the beginning. Tripathi was able to stall the demand, saying the issue could only be decided by a meeting of the full 30-member committee. In the last session, only 13 members were present.

The ruling coalition, which has a majority in the JPC, will definitely try to ensure Sinha is not called before the committee. However, Parliament committees work on consensus.

Sources said it was likely the committee might satisfy itself with a questionnaire. The JPC has already completed 95 per cent of all the depositions, including those of the Reserve Bank of India and the finance ministry, and will begin work on the report soon. The chairman said only some institutions might be called up in between, if necessary.

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