PIL SEEKS CBI PROBE INTO RS 2 L-CR ‘SCAM’ IN BENGAL

A petition filed in the Calcutta High Court last month has alleged a “massive financial scam” by the West Bengal government. The petition claims that the state government has spent Rs 229,099 crore of public money without proper documentation, leading to allegations of misappropriation.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has found the lack of Utilisation Certificates (UCS), which verify government funds were spent properly, to be at risk of misappropriation. The petition also accuses state officials of supporting the alleged scam.

“A report submitted by the CAG of India for the year ended 31 March, 2021 with respect to the finances of the State of West Bengal points out various glaring incongruities and irregularities which point towards the misappropriation and perpetration of a financial scam of massive proportions by which the public exchequer has been defrauded,” the petition filed before the Calcutta High Court has stated.

The petition has been filed by three individuals, Jagannath Chattopadhyay, journalist and general secretary of West Bengal state BJP unit, advocate Suman Shankar Chatterjee and retired Army personnel Ritwick Paul on 20 January 2023, after they got to know from the published CAG report that the West Bengal government was not reporting and documenting the expenditure of the funds given by the Central government to the Bengal government.

“From the report of the CAG of India, it can be seen that UCS (Utilisation Certificates) to the tune of Rs 2,29,099 crore are yet to be received from various departments of the Government of West Bengal with the biggest defaulters being the Departments of Urban Development and Municipal Affairs, School Education, Panchayat and Rural Development with each such Department failing to submit UCS to the extent of Rs 30,693 crore, Rs 36,850 crore, Rs 81,839 crore respectively. Thus,