Oil ministry bending back for Reliance, claims CAG
3 Nov 2012 1:47 AM GMT
Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) embarrassed the government on Friday, when some media reports claimed that the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) objected to the oil ministry agreeing to ‘restrictive’ conditions set by RIL for auditing in the D6 block of the Krishna Godavari (KG) basin.
The CAG reportedly asked the oil ministry why it agreed to the conditions when it was mandated by law for its reports to be tabled in Parliament. The CAG letter reminded the oil ministry that the law gave ‘unfettered powers’ to it, to demand any documents it deemed fit for its auditing exercise.
‘This provision of CAG’s (DPC) Act gives CAG the unfettered right of access to all records required for such audit and would override any conditions sought to be imposed on our audit process,’ the CAG letter reminded the oil ministry.
The letter also said that its mandate is to audit and evaluate the monetary concerns from the government’s side, even if the deals involve private players.
The CAG’s concern about one of the conditions can land the government in trouble in the politically surcharged environment. The letter says the oil ministry should not have agreed to RIL’s demand of not making the audit report public. Given that the India Against Corruption has already accused RIL of deciding the oil minister of the country, now this charge of undermining Parliament can give more ammunition to the opposition against the government.
RIL got the permission to excavate and dig the wells in this block in 2000, when the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was in power.
RIL took about three years to realise the worth of this block, which is shown through a letter it sent to the Ministry of Environment and Forests on 23 September 2003, asking for environmental clearance for 28 wells in five blocks – KG19, KG-D6, KG20, KG18, KG-D4 – in the basin. Earlier, it had permission to dig 28 wells, out of which only eight wells lay in the D6 block. But, in the September 2003 letter, it sought environmental clearance for digging 18 wells in this block.
The NDA government gave the environmental clearance to the new proposal on 6 November 2003.
It is the same block where RIL is resisting CAG audits, putting the government and the auditor in an embarrassing duel.
The CAG reportedly asked the oil ministry why it agreed to the conditions when it was mandated by law for its reports to be tabled in Parliament. The CAG letter reminded the oil ministry that the law gave ‘unfettered powers’ to it, to demand any documents it deemed fit for its auditing exercise.
‘This provision of CAG’s (DPC) Act gives CAG the unfettered right of access to all records required for such audit and would override any conditions sought to be imposed on our audit process,’ the CAG letter reminded the oil ministry.
The letter also said that its mandate is to audit and evaluate the monetary concerns from the government’s side, even if the deals involve private players.
The CAG’s concern about one of the conditions can land the government in trouble in the politically surcharged environment. The letter says the oil ministry should not have agreed to RIL’s demand of not making the audit report public. Given that the India Against Corruption has already accused RIL of deciding the oil minister of the country, now this charge of undermining Parliament can give more ammunition to the opposition against the government.
RIL got the permission to excavate and dig the wells in this block in 2000, when the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was in power.
RIL took about three years to realise the worth of this block, which is shown through a letter it sent to the Ministry of Environment and Forests on 23 September 2003, asking for environmental clearance for 28 wells in five blocks – KG19, KG-D6, KG20, KG18, KG-D4 – in the basin. Earlier, it had permission to dig 28 wells, out of which only eight wells lay in the D6 block. But, in the September 2003 letter, it sought environmental clearance for digging 18 wells in this block.
The NDA government gave the environmental clearance to the new proposal on 6 November 2003.
It is the same block where RIL is resisting CAG audits, putting the government and the auditor in an embarrassing duel.
Next Story
