CAG report has managed to create a furore in the corridors of power. BJP MLA Devendra Fadnavis

‘CAG to unearth more scams’

Anticipation for the yet-to-be tabled CAG report has managed to create a furore in the corridors of power. BJP MLA Devendra Fadnavis, who blew the lid off a can of worms by submitting the CD of the report to the speaker, has claimed that more such scams will be unearthed once the entire report is tabled. Excerpts from an exclusive interview: The leak of the CAG report may lead to breach of privilege as you could be held responsible for the leak of the report to the media… I don’t think the breach of privilege will be moved against me and even if it is moved, I am ready to face it. I have my explanations ready. My one basic question remains unanswered, even before we talk about the breach of privilege. Why wasn’t the report tabled on time, so that legislators had enough time to discuss it and raise questions over any irregularities? Once the report is tabled, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) plays an investigatory role by summoning the officials concerned. The PAC has no right to summon ministers on its own, even before the legislature has discussed the report in the assembly. Are there more scams to be unearthed in the remaining report? Yes. As per my knowledge a big scam related to land outside Mumbai has mention in the remaining part of the report. A big politician is involved in the scam. Is he a former chief minister? Maybe. The Aashirwaad allotment appears to be another Adarsh-like scam since even bureaucrats are part of the building society; politicians owning flats in Aashirwaad have claimed to have complied with all norms… Two bureaucrats — SJ Srivatsav and Chitkala Zutshi — are implicated due to wrong interpretation. The allotment to IAS officials was as per the revised Government Regulations (GR) by the government as both of them did not own any flats in Mumbai. The CAG has also raised an objection to provisions in the GR. As far the explanations by the politicians are concerned, they have raised many further questions. Ramraje Nimabalkar has said that he has revealed his family income, while Sunil Deshmukh has claimed to have revealed his taxable income. The income revealed by these leaders in the election affidavits are disproportionate with what has been claimed here. One cannot disclose only taxable income. Other ministers too have claimed that the allotment of land to their institutions was as per the rules... No, they were not. Like for the allotment of the Sameer Bhujbal-controlled MET in Nashik, additional land of 50,000 sq mtrs was allotted to the institution despite the rule that there cannot be repeated allotments. I am not against allotting land to educational institutions and hospitals at concessional rates, but objecting against the misuse of those concessions. Questions of propriety arise in this case as the land allotted to the MET belonged to the PWD, the portfolio handled by Bhujbal. The CAG has rightly pointed out the ‘conflict of interest.’ Similar misuse was discerned for the land allotted to Sindhudurg Shikshan Prasarak Mandal, controlled by Neelam Narayan Rane. It’s also claimed by some politicians that the report was leaked by NCP leaders as political opportunism… A Let the entire report come forth, the allegations will automatically subside. There are NCP leaders who are also involved in usurping land and other irregularities, as the report points out.