By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Yet another Judicial Inquiry has cost the State exchequer dearly but its findings are in cold storage.
Documents reveal that the State has incurred an expenditure of over Rs 22 lakh (Rs 22,41,206) till July 2012 for the Justice (retd) PG Agarwal Inquiry Commission which probed the alleged scam in the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC).
The figure excludes the expenditure incurred between August and December 2012.
It was on December 29 last that the one-man Judicial Inquiry Commission headed by Justice (retd) PG Agarwal submitted its report to the Government after probing the alleged financial irregularities and illegal appointments in the GHADC.
The alleged irregularities took place under former NCP leader and the GHADC chief Purno K Sangma, when NCP was in power in GHADC in 2009-10.
The irony is that Sangma has now joined the Congress and is contesting on a Congress ticket from Dadenggre constituency in West Garo Hills.
In the middle of last year, the Commission had submitted an interim report to the State Government which was not made public. To avoid making the report public, the District Council Affairs department, in its reply to a RTI query, said that the interim report was yet to be placed in the Cabinet and the state legislature.
However, a former official who dealt with RTI matters said that the moment a judicial inquiry report, whether in part or in full is handed over to the Government, it becomes a public document and the same can be accessed through an RTI query even of it is not placed in the Cabinet or in the state legislature.
The GHADC scam came to the fore after the then Deputy Commissioner of West Garo Hills Sanjay Goyal carried out an audit report and found out financial irregularities including illegal appointments in the Council in 2009-10.
Subsequently on October 19, 2010 the State Government notified the Inquiry Commission headed by Agarwal.
The terms of reference included the need to probe the facts and circumstances leading to the financial instability in GHADC and also to examine financial irregularities and misappropriation of funds committed by GHADC.
Other terms of reference included examination of the administration of laws, rules and regulation made by GHADC with special reference to the alleged cancellation of appointment in respect of Laskars and village court staff without reasons and illegal appointment made in various departments of the GHADC.
The Government had also asked the commission to find out the ways and means of revamping the GHADC administration.
The time frame to complete the probe report was three months, but the Commission completed the report only after two years.
Since the NCP-led Executive Committee was in power in GHADC, the Congress-led MUA Government instituted the Judicial Inquiry Commission to expose the wrong doings of the NCP.
There were also toppling games in GHADC after many MDCs had switched their allegiance to the Congress. Since April 2010, the Government had imposed the administrator’s rule for six months each on two occasions in the GHADC following tussle for power amid claims and counter claims, besides court cases.
The attempt to form the Commission was also to prevent any move by the NCP to form the Executive Committee in the GHADC.
