2G scam: BJP to end JPC boycott?

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members might attend the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) panel's meeting on the 2G spectrum scam on Nov 8, media reports said on Saturday.

According to reports, the BJP members might end the JPC boycott and their demand of having Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram as witnesses in the case.

"BJP members will review their strategy of staying away from committee proceedings after assessing the response of JPC chairperson P C Chacko who has so far been stonewalling their demand. Chacko has not discussed a witness list with the committee yet," reported TOI.

The BJP on Oct 18 stayed away from the JPC panel´s meeting on the 2G scam in demand that Chidambaram must depose before it.

The BJP members, who are part of the JPC examining the 2G spectrum allocation scandal, walked out of a meeting of the panel on Sept 18 as their demand of finalising the list of witness in connection to the case was rejected.

Touted to be the biggest corruption scandal of independent India, the 2G scam, allegedly masterminded by former telecom minister A Raja, pertains to a biased distribution of mobile airwaves and operating licenses, in lieu of kickbacks, to telcos that could have cost the treasury up to Rs 1.76 lakh crore in lost revenue, according to the government´s auditors CAG.

The court on May 15 granted bail to Raja who was languishing in the Tihar jail for 15 months in the 2G case.