JPC should do a thorough job

The New Indian Express First Published : 23 Feb 2011 11:58:00 PM ISTLast Updated : 24 Feb 2011 01:08:53 AM IST
There will be a general sense of relief among the aam aadmi and the political class at the end of the confrontation between the government and the opposition over a JPC probe into the 2G Spectrum scam. While the government evidently realised that its mulish refusal to set up the JPC was doing it no good, the BJP has shown rare magnanimity in not gloating over the humiliating retreat by the treasury bench. Considering, however, that precious time has been lost as a result of the unwise and unnecessary standoff between the two sides, the next step should be to make haste in constituting the committee so that it can quickly get down to the business of identifying the guilty.
The need for purposeful urgency is all the greater because the latest swindle is the worst that the country has experienced in terms of the magnitude of the loss to the exchequer and the venality of politicians. If the culprits are able to get away, or are only lightly punished, the entire democratic system will suffer a crippling blow. This caution is necessary because earlier JPCs were not noticeably successful in penalising the wrongdoers, as the persistent questions on the Nehru-Gandhi family’s role in the Bofors howitzer scandal show. It was no different in the cases of the three other JPC investigations — into the securities and banking transactions in 1992, the stock market in 2001 and safety standards in the manufacture of soft drinks in 2003.
These earlier instances suggest that alongside the JPC probe, the on-going criminal investigations by the CBI into the scam should continue without let or hindrance. It is the same with the inquiries which the Public Accounts Committee is conducting under Murli Manohar Joshi. Given the numbers and clout of the suspects, the wider the net the better so that no loopholes are inadvertently left. The members of the JPC will also have to ensure that they do not engage in the kind of bitter political wrangling which led to the wastage of the entire winter session of parliament, which, in itself, was a deplorable example of political pettiness.
It is incumbent on politicians, especially of the ruling parties, to ensure that the JPC does not get bogged down in technicalities if the prime minister’s promise, made at his press conference, that the political stature of the guilty will not save them, is to be taken seriously.