Bengal govt tables 28 pending CAG reports, accuses TMC of 'constitutional lapse'

Kolkata: The BJP government in West Bengal tabled 28 long-pending CAG reports in the Assembly on Saturday and said a special session would be convened to discuss them, alleging the previous TMC dispensation committed a "constitutional lapse" by not placing them in the House.

Laying the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) reports in the Assembly from fiscals 2020-21 to 2024-25, state Finance Minister Swapan Dasgupta said the special session of the Assembly would hold a detailed discussion on their findings, asserting it was the government's responsibility to place its shortcomings before the people.

He said the reports would provide "a true picture" of the state's finances and explain the reasons behind West Bengal's debt burden of more than Rs 8 lakh crore.


Referring to the previous government's failure to present the audit reports in the Assembly, Dasgupta said, "Keeping that constitutional lapse in mind, we are tabling 28 volumes of the CAG report before the House..

Dasgupta termed it a serious constitutional impropriety and told Speaker Rathin Bose that "for some known and unknown reasons" the reports had not been tabled for several years. "The CAG reports have constitutional importance. Every government has the responsibility to place them before the Assembly..

"We want to hold a special session in the coming days where these CAG reports will be discussed. It is very important. It is our duty to place the government's mistakes before the people," he said.

The reports tabled in the House include the state's finance accounts, appropriation accounts and compliance audit reports for various departments, besides performance audits of public health infrastructure and healthcare services, panchayati raj institutions, Integrated Child Development Services, Samagra Shiksha programme's implementation and other sectors.

Dasgupta said the previous Trinamool Congress government had kept the reports pending. The present dispensation was fulfilling its constitutional obligation by placing them before the Assembly, he told the House.

As the reports were placed in the House, Industries Minister Tapas Roy said, "What have you done Bobby?" in a quip at former minister Firhad Hakim.

India Secular Front MLA Naushad Siddique alleged corruption at the "highest levels" during the previous regime and demanded stringent action for all those who would be found guilty in the audit findings.

He also demanded compensation for those affected in cases flagged by the audit reports.

After coming to power, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari had announced that all pending CAG reports would be placed before the Assembly. It was part of the BJP government's promise of greater financial transparency.

He had also said that wherever audit established evidence of graft, the government would recommend to the governor that sanction be granted for registration of FIRs, irrespective of the stature of those involved.