2G scam: Parliament adjourned till noon

NEW DELHI - Both Houses of Parliament were adjourned till noon as opposition members continued to demand a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into 2G spectrum allocation scam.

This is the seventh successive day of disruptions in Parliament over the demand for a JPC.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has invited leaders of all parties for a luncheon meeting to discuss a way out to end the impasse in Parliament.

The government is expected to make an appeal to them to allow Parliament to function during the meeting.

Mukherjee had a meeting with Home Minister P Chidambaram and Defence Minister A K Antony this morning.

NDA leaders also had a floor coordination meeting and decided to take a view on the issue of allowing Parliament to function after the all-party meeting.

Parliament’s Winter Session that began November 9 has witnessed repeated adjournments over the opposition’s insistence for a JPC probe into the scam, even after A. Raja resigned as Communications and IT Minister last Sunday.

Both BJP and the Left have noted that a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) enquiry underway into the matter cannot be taken seriously.

The 2G spectrum allocation has reportedly caused an alleged loss of Rs1.76 lakh crores to the Government, the CAG has stated in a damning report.

The report further states that Raja had no apparent logical or valid reasons to ignore the advice of the Law and Finance Ministries while allocating telecom spectrum to several firms in 2007-08. (ANI)