New Delhi, Sep 27 (IANS) Members of opposition parties in the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probing the 2G spectrum scam Tuesday slammed the government for not submitting a finance ministry note that said spectrum auction could have been held if then finance minister P. Chidambaram had so insisted.

They called it a "serious lapse".

At the JPC meeting chaired by Congress MP P.C. Chacko here, the members of parliament from the opposition parties demanded that the finance secretary be called to appear before the panel and provide clarifications on the ministry's note on the spectrum allocation.

The JPC had met to record evidence of former telecom secretary Nripendra Mishra.

Sources said Communist Party of India-Marxist MP Sitaram Yechury, a JPC member, raised the issue of the finance ministry note that suggested that Chidambaram could have insisted on auction of the 2G radio waves.

Yechury said the note was not among the documents submitted by the finance ministry to the JPC, sources added.

He reportedly contended that "if the non-submission of the 2G note was deliberate, it amounted to breach of privilege and if it was a lapse, it was a serious one".

Bharatiya Janata Party MP S.S. Ahluwalia demanded that the finance secretary be summoned so that the JPC could seek clarifications on the issue.

Chacko, however, expressed difficulty in summoning the finance secretary at such a short notice.

But his contention was dismissed by the members, particularly those from the opposition, who insisted that a ministry official be asked to appear before the JPC.