28.2.13

JPC to probe Chopper kickbacks


Brushing aside protests from the BJP and other parties, the government has set up a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) to probe the AgustaWestland chopper scam after it secured the support of the SP, the BSP and the CPM for the move designed to contain the political fallout from the bribery scandal.
The announcement of the 30-strong panel came after defence minister A K Antony disclosed that he had briefly contemplated resignation as he felt “ashamed’’ of the scam. Responding to opposition MPs who said the defence minister, with his ‘Mr Clean’ image, should have quit because of the scam, Antony said, “I thought of it. But I do not want to run away. I want to punish the guilty and ensure maximum punishment for them.”
The approval of the motion moved by parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath for setting up the JPC was preceded by an intense debate between the government and the BJP, the Trinamool, the JD(U), the TDP and the CPI over the utility of a parliamentary probe.
The government carried the day in the Rajya Sabha after it secured the support of not just the SP and the BSP but also the CPM. The JPC is to submit its report within three months of its first sitting. JPC to have 20 LS and 10 RS members
In a stunning turnaround, perhaps the first featuring the bloc, the Marxists first opposed the JPC only to give their consent to be part of it later, tilting the scales in favour of the government. The CPM explained that it went along with the move because the committee had been set up. Curiously, Congress sources said Kamal Nath had received the name of the CPM nominee for the panel even before the House approved the motion.
The government offered a JPC probe in order to fend off the perception of a cover up: a political imperative because of the BJP’s harping on the mention of “the family” in the Italian investigations into the allegation that Finmeccanica paid 51 million euros to swing the chopper deal in favour of its subsidiary, AgustaWestland. The BJP played on the reference to “the family” in the debate in the Rajya Sabha.
The constitution of the JPC, which will have 20 members from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha, also obviates the prospect of the Supreme Court taking over supervision of the probe like in the case of the 2G scam.
During the debate, Kamal Nath accused the BJP of running away from a parliamentary probe even though they had obstructed one full session of Parliament to demand a similar probe into the 2G scam.
Leader of opposition Arun Jaitley argued that a JPC probe could not be a substitute to an impartial investigation that has not started even a year after reports of alleged bribery first surfaced. He reacted to the setting up of the JPC by saying that the panel sans BJP would “actually be Congress Working Committee”.
Responding to opposition’s charge of a cover-up, defence minister A K Antony played on his 'Mr Clean' image to the hilt to forcefully argue that the government was “determined” to get to the bottom of the scam.
But the opposition would have none of it, alleging a “cover-up” to protect the “bribetakers” in the deal, even though it did not question Antony's credentials for probity.
“There is a sense of helplessness in the defence minister's statement... the government is indulging in diversionary tactics,” Jaitley said.

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