PM-appointed Shunglu panel on Games gets vast powers

The panel led by former comptroller and auditor general (CAG) VK Shunglu, appointed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to probe the Commonwealth Games will be a “high-level committee” with overarching powers to investigate mismanagement and financial wrongdoing. Zia Haq reports.Graphic: Task cut out

The panel led by former comptroller and auditor general (CAG) V.K. Shunglu will be a “high-level committee” with overarching powers to probe mismanagement and financial wrongdoings in organizing the Commonwealth Games.

HT Image

Shunglu will be joined by Shantanu Consul, secretary in department of personnel and training, after retiring on October 31. The panel will submit its report in three months.

“I have already assumed office on Saturday to expedite the initial process until the other member joins me. So, full-time work has already begun,” Shunglu, a vocal advocate of transparency, told HT.

The panel’s “terms of reference” reveal a wide-ranging mandate that requires it to go through all issues with a fine-toothed comb. Its mandate calls for holding to account functionaries “at all levels” and the organising committee for a botched build-up to the Games by recommending “immediate action as warranted under law”.

It will check if the Games’ money was bungled by reporting “wasteful expenditure” and “financial wrongdoing”.

The panel will examine how well the Indian Olympic Association and the Delhi government – “signatories” to the Games -- understood their daunting task in the first place. It will look into the “overall implications of the obligations entered into through the Host City Contract” -- the key agreement that allowed Delhi to host the event.

Shunglu’s probe will also examine the functioning of the “organisational structure” that includes the sports and urban development ministry, the Delhi government, and the Games organising committee led by Suresh Kalmadi.

The panel’s final report will include recommendations for future events of national importance.