CAG Vinod Rai was questioned by the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) members on Monday.
Sources disclosed that members, particularly Congress member Manish Tiwari, questioned the national auditor on the estimation of losses in the 2G spectrum allocation case. BJP member Ravishankar Prasad, sources said, objected to the manner in which Mr Tewari was putting questions to “a senior official like the CAG”.
The Congress member, it was learnt, sought to know how the CAG estimated the loss ranging from `57,000 crores to `1.76 lakh crores and the logic behind using the methodology for calculating the loss figures.
Sources said attempts by some members to put supplementary questions to the CAG were disallowed by JPC chairman P.C. Chacko.
Mr Rai had earlier appeared before the JPC on November 15 and the recording of his evidence was incomplete as almost every member had questions for him. Mr Rai was also asked whether there was any single figure of loss estimates on which there was unanimity among all the auditors in the CAG institution.
Mr Rai’s recording of evidence will continue on Tuesday when some of the members are expected to question him on various aspects of the CAG’s loss estimates on account of spectrum allocation.
The questioning of finance secretary R.S. Gujral and economic affairs secretary R. Gopalan, who were to appear before the JPC on Tuesday, has now been put off to a later date. They were to appear before the panel to clarify on the non-submission of a finance ministry note to the JPC.