Rs 1.47 crore spent on Justice M B Shah Commission till August 31

GANDHINAGAR: Gujarat government today informed the Legislative Assembly that Rs 1.47 crore had been spent on Justice M B Shah Commission, set up by the state government to probe corruption allegations levelled by Congress.

Narendra Modi government set up the commission on August 16, 2011 to probe 17 charges of corruption levelled by opposition Congress. Among other things, Congress has questioned various land allotments, and alleged that the BJP government favoured certain industrial houses.

In reply to a question by Congress MLA from Thasra, Ramsinh Parmar, the General Administration Department (GAD) (a portfolio handled by Modi) stated that Rs 1.47 crore had been spent on the commission as of August 31, 2013, and it had been given six extensions.

As to when would it submit the final report, the reply only said it would be submitted when the inquiry is complete.

The commission, in its interim report on October 3, 2012, had given a clean chit to the Modi government in nine land allotment cases.

Last week, Gujarat High Court dismissed a public interest litigation challenging legality of the commission.