2G scam: Oppn demands PM’s response to SC’s ‘silence’ remark

Buoyed by the Supreme Court's observation on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's 'silence' on the spectrum scam, opposition appears set to intensify its campaign in Parliament tomorrow for setting up a probe by a joint parliamentary committee (JPC). "With the entire opposition and supporting parties of the government together on the issue, the government must accept gracefully the demand for a JPC and should not waste the time of Parliament," BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar said. AIADMK leader in the Rajya Sabha V Maitreyan echoed similar sentiments as also Sanjay Raut of Shiv Sena. Maitreyan said that the opposition was awaiting a response from the government and if there was no reply from the government as promised by the Leader of the House in Lok Sabha Pranab Mukherjee yesterday, Parliament would not function. CPI's D Raja said that if the govenment remained indecisive on the issue, the opposition was bound to raise the JPC demand. This was more so when the Supreme Court was asking questions to the PM himself, he said. The Supreme Court on Tuesday  posed some embarrassing questions to the government about the lengthy delay on the part of the Prime Minister in taking a decision on a plea for sanction of prosecution of former Telecom Minister A Raja in the controversial 2G spectrum allocation issue. Congress’s reponse Congress on Wednesday steered clear of comments on the Supreme Court observations over the delay in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's response to a plea seeking prosecution of then Telecom Minister A Raja in connection with the alleged irregularities in allocation of 2G spectrum. "The Supreme Court has asked the government a question and the government will give an appropriate response tomorrow," Congress spokesman Manish Tewari said in response to a specific query on the apex court's observations. Facing a volley on questions on Singh's "inaction", he asserted that the Prime Minister did take action by securing Telecom Minister A Raja's resignation before the CAG report tabled in Parliament.