Business Line, November 14, 2018
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India is on course to table the audit report on the Rafale fighter jet deal in the winter session of Parliament. A CAG official told BusinessLine that the report is in the final stages of completion.
Responding to allegations that there has been a deliberate delay in the preparation of the CAG reports on demonetisation and the Rafale deal, the CAG official said: “It is strange that some retired officers are alleging delay in the audit on demonetisation and Rafale deal. In fact, when the Congress delegation met the CAG, some of them alleged that the CAG was expediting the audit of Rafale deal to help the ruling party in the elections in four States in December, and to prevent the Opposition from demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee in the winter session of Parliament.”
The official added: “The report on the Rafale deal is being completed as per due course. It is in the final stages, where the assessee responses are being included.” In all CAG reports, the audit agency mentions its observations, and includes responses from the respective government department, or Ministry, along with the findings.
Sixty retired bureaucrats had written to the CAG expressing concerns that the audit reports on demonetisation and the Rafale deal were being “deliberately” delayed to not “embarrass” the government till next year’s general elections.
They criticised the “unconscionable”, “unwarranted delay” in bringing out the reports, and asked for them to be tabled in the winter session.
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