PM says he is ready to appear before PAC

In an unprecedented move, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said that he had nothing to hide and was willing to appear before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament headed by opposition BJP's Murli Manohar Joshi.

The PAC is studying the report submitted by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) on thesecond generation mobile telephony spectrum allocation scam.

Addressing All India Congress Committee (AICC) plenary in Delhi, the PM said that a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) would achieve nothing and the demand raised by the opposition for a JPC probe was only a political stunt

He promised that the PAC's report on the scandal would be debated in Parliament.

Explaining his decision to appear before the PAC, he said that anyone occupying the high office has to be above suspicion and so he would write to PAC chairperson Joshi offering to appear before the committee.

He also said that all the aspects of the second generation mobile telephony spectrum allocation were being probed and that no guilty person will be spared.