The Comptroller & Auditor General of India (CAG) has passed strictures against Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, his predecessor Vilasrao Deshmukh and Revenue Minister Patangrao Kadam, pointing out lacunae in dealings concerning them.
The CAG report was tabled in the State Legislature at Nagpur earlier this week. Last month, former Revenue Minister Narayan Rane had alleged that its tabling was delayed by over nine months to "avoid embarrassment as it indicts Deshmukh".
Had the report been tabled soon after it was received by the CAG's office, Deshmukh, then Chief Minister, would have had to resign, Rane had said.
Strictures against Chavan, termed as "merely technical in nature" by the new Chief Minister, are about renovation of the offices and residences of ministers.
Between 2002-03 to 2006-07, Rs 1.52 crore were spent on renovating offices and residences of Chavan, then Industry Minister, his deputy Rana Jagjitsingh Patil and department officials, using funds of Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC), CAG said.
"MIDC not only failed to obtain permission of the state government, but also fudged accounts and booked the expenditure under Maintenance and Repairs to Industrial Area," the report pointed out.
{{/usCountry}}"MIDC not only failed to obtain permission of the state government, but also fudged accounts and booked the expenditure under Maintenance and Repairs to Industrial Area," the report pointed out.
{{/usCountry}}The report was critical of land allotment to the Vilasrao Deshmukh Foundation (Mumbai), an educational trust, saying MIDC incurred a loss of Rs 1.19 crore in the process.