Controversial CAG report to be tabled in the House today

The state government assured the legislative assembly that it would table the controversial report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on Tuesday.

The state government assured the legislative assembly that it would table the controversial report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on Tuesday. The report, leaked to the media by the Opposition more than week ago, has accused several sitting state and union ministers, legislators and former chief ministers of allotting land at discounted rates.

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The assurance came after the Opposition created a ruckus and stalled the assembly twice on Monday. Legislators demanded to know why the government had not tabled the report even after chief minister Prithviraj Chavan promised to do so a week ago.

Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar told the assembly that the report had been sent to the Governor who, in turn, will approve it for tabling. Pawar expected the Governor to respond by Tuesday. Chavan was not present in the House as he was in New Delhi to attend the prime minister's conference on national security.

Narayan Rane and Chhagan Bhujbal, two ministers who have been named in the report, clarified the government's decision to place the report before the cabinet before it was sent to the Governor. Bhujbal said that the cabinet sought the advocate general's opinion to know if it was authorised to decide on it. He was replying to an accusation that some ministers wanted the government to return the report.