UP Lokayukta seeks legal advice on CAG report pointing cam
12 Jan 2013 6:13 AM IST
Uttar Pradesh Lokayukta Justice (Retd) N K Mehrotra, who is probing into the Rs 1200 crore sugar mill scam, has sought legal advice on the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).
‘The Lokayukta has now want to know the legal sanctity of the CAG on its report that there was around Rs 1200 crore loss. The legal advice was sought after there were reports which claimed that CAG was just an audit body,’ sources said on Friday.
Surprisingly, UP government had recently informed the Allahabad high court, which is also hearing a PIL on the scam, that they will only submit the affidavit on the sugar mills scam after Lokayukta completes its probe.
Similar replies were also sent to the Vidhan Sabha and other agencies by the state government where there is a probe into the sale of public sector sugar mills in the state during the previous Mayawati regime.
Special secretary of the sugarcane development department Vijay Kumar Tiwari had written to the HC and other agencies recently that ‘department is not in a position to give a reply on the issue and it will be given only after Lokayukta, which is also probing the case, gives its report.’
The Akhilesh Yadav government in November last had referred the Rs 1,200 crore sugar mill scam to the state Lokayukta for probe after a cabinet approval.
The scam pertained to huge irregularities in the sale of 21 state-owned sugar mills, which had either been closed or running at losses to private parties in 2007, allegedly at throwaway prices, causing a loss of Rs 1,179 crore to the state exchequer.
The CAG had also detected large-scale irregularities and said that the mills were grossly undervalued that resulted in windfall gains to the buyers. Cartel and bidding process, too, was not transparent.
‘The Lokayukta has now want to know the legal sanctity of the CAG on its report that there was around Rs 1200 crore loss. The legal advice was sought after there were reports which claimed that CAG was just an audit body,’ sources said on Friday.
Surprisingly, UP government had recently informed the Allahabad high court, which is also hearing a PIL on the scam, that they will only submit the affidavit on the sugar mills scam after Lokayukta completes its probe.
Similar replies were also sent to the Vidhan Sabha and other agencies by the state government where there is a probe into the sale of public sector sugar mills in the state during the previous Mayawati regime.
Special secretary of the sugarcane development department Vijay Kumar Tiwari had written to the HC and other agencies recently that ‘department is not in a position to give a reply on the issue and it will be given only after Lokayukta, which is also probing the case, gives its report.’
The Akhilesh Yadav government in November last had referred the Rs 1,200 crore sugar mill scam to the state Lokayukta for probe after a cabinet approval.
The scam pertained to huge irregularities in the sale of 21 state-owned sugar mills, which had either been closed or running at losses to private parties in 2007, allegedly at throwaway prices, causing a loss of Rs 1,179 crore to the state exchequer.
The CAG had also detected large-scale irregularities and said that the mills were grossly undervalued that resulted in windfall gains to the buyers. Cartel and bidding process, too, was not transparent.
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