House panel for action against BSNL chief

The parliamentary Committee on Public Undertakings (COPU) has demanded action against BSNL chairman and managing director Kuldeep Goyal after he failed to appear on Thursday before the panel examining the functioning of the state-owned telecom firm.

The parliamentary Committee on Public Undertakings (COPU) has demanded action against BSNL chairman and managing director Kuldeep Goyal after he failed to appear on Thursday before the panel examining the functioning of the state-owned telecom firm.

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Panel chief V.Kishore Chandra Deo adjourned the meeting with a note to Goyal expressing the panel’s displeasure.

Deo also wrote a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar on Friday, Deo asked her to take up the matter “with the concerned authorities for appropriate action against Goyal.’’ The CMD’s nonappearance, his letter said, “has a serious bearing on the functioning of parliamentary committee system.’’

According to the letter, on the eve of the panel’s meeting, Goyal called Deo to say he had to accompany a minister for a function and if it was necessary for him to appear. He was told to be present. Yet on July 8, Goyal sent a fax dated July 7 seeking a leave of absence.

“Despite my instructions ... sending a fax seeking exemption ... smacks of his disregard...,’’ it said.

Goyal reportedly had sought and was given exemption on an earlier occasion. This time besides not turning up, even the written replies to the panel’s questionnaire were submitted barely a day before the meeting leaving little time for the panel to study them.