BJP  claimed that the government attempted to put a clause in the terms of reference of the joint parliamentary committee on second-generation mobile telephone spectrum allocation in a bid to keep former telecom minister A Raja out of the panel''s purview.

BJP sources, preferring anonymity, said the draft of the terms of reference of the JPC that was sent to the senior opposition leaders sought to provide for scrutiny of decisions taken by actions "by successive governments consequent to decisions by the union cabinet..."

The relevant clause read, "to examine policy prescriptions and their interpretation thereafter by successive governments consequent to decisions by the union cabinet in the allocation and pricing of telecom licenses and spectrum from 1998 to 2009."

The phrase "consequent to decisions by the union cabinet" in the clause would have meant Raja would not be probed as the 2G Spectrum allocation issue never came up in the cabinet headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

"Only the role of Arun Shourie, who was telecom minister during the NDA regime, would have been probed as the then cabinet had taken a decision on it," a BJP leader said.

When the BJP top brass noticed this "sleight of hand" by the government, they got in touch with telecom minister Kapil Sibal and others and recorded their objection.

Sources said a senior minister then changed the wording and informed BJP about it.

The amended clause read "to examine policy prescriptions and their interpretation thereafter by successive governments, including decisions by the union cabinet and the consequences thereof, in the allocation and pricing of telecom licenses and spectrum from 1998 to 2009."

The amended version was acceptable to the BJP as it includes cabinet decisions as well as those taken outside it. This version was presented in the Lok Sabha and passed unanimously.