The controversy over a finance ministry note on the 2G spectrum scam, which is critical of home minister P Chidambaram?s role as finance minister, refuses to die down. At a meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the 2G scam, a majority of members of the committee, including those belonging to the ruling Congress party, the main Opposition BJP, the CPI(M) and even the BSP questioned why the note had not been submitted to the JPC.

So belligerent were the members that it was decided that finance secretary R S Gujral and other officials of the finance ministry would be summoned to appear before the JPC on October 12 to ?explain? the lapse. ?We will ask the secretary as to how this note was not sent to the JPC,? said JPC chairman P C Chacko.

?We have also asked all relevant ministries, the Prime Minister?s Office (PMO), the department of telecommunications (DoT), the law ministry and the corporate affairs ministry to file affidavits attesting that all documents related to the 2G spectrum allocation scam have been furnished, and if not, to submit them to the JPC?s scrutiny,? said Chacko.

This move comes as yet another blow to the government which appears to be battling hard to douse its internal fires, as senior ministers in the government appear to be squabbling. The only silver lining which senior government managers appeared to be seeing is that papers related to the government?s criticism of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) methodology in evaluating the losses due to the scam would also see the light. ?All papers concerning the flaws in the CAG evaluation of the loss will also be submitted,? said a senior minister in the government.

The dramatis personae in the whole controversy, meanwhile, maintained a studied silence on the issue on Tuesday. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee left for West Bengal for the Durga Pooja celebrations, and home minister P Chidambaram, who cancelled a trip to flood-hit Orissa, remained steadfast on his decision not to speak to the media till the prime minister returned from aboard.

Mukherjee too maintained that he would speak only after the PM returned to Delhi from New York. He was expected to reach Delhi Tuesday night.