Ministers named in CAG report push state not to table it

Under pressure from senior ministers allegedly named in a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) for land allotment to educational institutes run by them, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on Thursday sought legal opinion from the state advocate general, and also appointed a group of eight ministers to decide whether the report should be rejected, and if it should be tabled in the ongoing budget session of the state legislature.

Under pressure from senior ministers allegedly named in a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) for land allotment to educational institutes run by them, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on Thursday sought legal opinion from the state advocate general, and also appointed a group of eight ministers to decide whether the report should be rejected, and if it should be tabled in the ongoing budget session of the state legislature. Chavan had earlier promised to table the report on April 16.

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The names of these ministers were not immediately known, but sources close to the CM said that the group has some 'tainted' ministers in it as well.

The CAG report was unofficially released by the opposition last week. It names ex-CMs Vilasrao Deshmukh and Narayan Rane, and senior ministers Chhagan Bhujbal, Radha-krishna Vikhe Patil, Harsh-vardhan Patil and Patangrao Kadam for getting government land allotted to their institutions at discounted rates, resulting in losses to the exchequer.

In the cabinet meeting on Thursday, the indicted ministers also sought a CID probe into how the report was lea-ked. Constitutionally, the government cannot reject the report and is under le-gal obligation to table it.