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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | CAG’s Taj e-way audit may indict 2 ex-CMs -Pradeep Thakur

CAG’s Taj e-way audit may indict 2 ex-CMs -Pradeep Thakur

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published Published on Jan 10, 2014   modified Modified on Jan 10, 2014
-The Times of India


NEW DELHI: The comptroller and auditor general (CAG) is finalizing a report on yet another instance of massive loss to the state exchequer because of favours shown to private parties by the political establishment. The CAG's audit report on the Taj Expressway project could also find place among India's biggest scams, with successive Uttar Pradesh governments being accused of causing loss of thousands of crores to the exchequer.

According to sources, the CAG would claim that two successive chief ministers of the state, SP's Mulayam Singh Yadav and BSP's Mayawati, doled out favours that cost the exchequer thousands of crores.

The scrutiny reveals undue benefit in terms of development of land rights given to private developers for thousands of acres, with financial value estimated at thousands of crores, sources said. However, the exact estimate of losses was not available. The audit report could put the scam in the same magnitude as that of 2G spectrum, Coalgate or Delhi airport privatization.

Sources said CAG has finalized the draft report and has reviewed decisions taken by the then BSP government led by Mayawati, as well as the SP government led by her predecessor Mulayam.

Built at a cost of Rs 13,000 crore, the 165-km six-lane Taj Expressway connects Greater Noida with Agra and passes through Bulandshahar, Aligarh, Hathras and Mathura. Under the public-private partnership, the project was executed and developed by the Jaypee group.

The expressway project was granted in 2003 and was inaugurated in August 2012.

Interestingly, Mayawati and Mulayam, who have come under the scanner for favouring private developers with undue benefits, are both supporting the UPA government at the Centre and had bailed it out in passage of several key legislations, including FDI in retail and the food security bill.

The CBI dropping disproportionate assets cases against the two regional satraps in the Supreme Court last year was seen as a thanksgiving gesture by the Congress for their crucial support in Parliament.

The CAG audit, which has allegedly noted irregularities in the Taj Expressway project, primarily covers all decision taken during Mayawati's regime from May 2007 to March 2012 when she was chief minister. It also covers certain decisions of the Mulayam government when the SP chief was CM between August 2003 and May 2007.

The audit report could be a major embarrassment for both BSP and SP, and could lead to more trouble for the UPA which is already grappling with charges of tweaking policies to benefit a few favoured ones in the coal block allocations.

After giving final touches, CAG is expected to be ready with the Taj Expressway audit report for tabling during the budget session in February, just ahead of parliamentary elections. CAG sources said elections would not be a reason for withholding the report.


The Times of India, 10 January, 2014, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/CAGs-Taj-e-way-audit-may-indict-2-ex-CMs/articleshow/28606271.cms


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