GUWAHATI, March 2 � Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today claimed that none of his Ministerial colleagues was indicted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) or the Union Home Ministry in the NC Hills Autonomous Council (NCHAC) case of misappropriation of public funds.
Gogoi further claimed that he was not averse to a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) enquiry into the NC Hills scam. He said he received the Central Government�s letter on the issue on February 25 and that day itself he recommended a CBI enquiry into the NCHAC scam.
But, he said, those who had been raising a hue and cry on the issue were trying to mislead the people by claiming that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had found some of his Ministerial colleagues involved in the scam. In fact, the NIA and even the Union Home Ministry have been maintaining that �some public servants of NC Hills� are involved in the scam.
This had been made clear by the February 22, 2010 letter of the Home Ministry�s Joint Secretary D Diptivilasa, said the Chief Minister.
The letter of the Joint Secretary read, � During the investigation of the said case, the involvement of Public Servants of North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council (NCHAC) for misappropriation of Government funds and their misconduct, etc have been revealed. It is, therefore, proposed that the State Government may consider the above and recommend the investigation of this matter under the provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act, by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).�
The Chief Minister, however, said that he did not know as to who those public servants were or how they misappropriated public money in the NCHAC. �I will ask the Union Home Ministry to inform me who are these public servants,� he said.
Those who had been leveling the charge against some of the Ministers of the State alleging their involvement in the scam, should have remembered the report of the enquiry commission headed by Justice (Retd) R K Manisana Singh into the allegations of misappropriation of funds in the NCHAC, said the Chief Minister.
The report and action taken report on it were tabled in the State Assembly on July 21, 2009. The report of the commission had said that there was an agreement between the DHD-J leaders and the ASDC-BJP alliance with the latter agreeing to pay a sum of Rs 2 crore to the DHD-J if the alliance came to power. And when the alliance came to power, it paid the said amount of money to the militant outfit in keeping with its pre-election promise, said the Chief Minister quoting the relevant portion of the Manisana Singh report.
On the issue of Accountant General�s (AG�s) probe into the matter, Gogoi said that the State Government had asked the Chief Secretary on October 9, 2009, to engage the AG in a special audit and if the misuse of Government money was proved, then it should be referred to the CBI.
He firmly denied that he had been shielding any corrupt Minister. Rather, he said, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) was shielding former Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta. �If Mahanta has so much faith in the CBI, then why is he not admitting that the CBI charge of his involvement in the Veterinary LoC scam was true?� questioned the Chief Minister, adding, in order to cover up their own corruption, the AGP leaders were now raising a hue and cry on the issue of a CBI enquiry into the NCHAC scam.
Countering the demand of the AGP for making the assets and liabilities of the Ministers public, Gogoi expressed his readiness in a lighter vein, to exchange his property with that of Prafulla Kumar Mahanta if the latter agreed to it.
Niranjan Hojai: On the issue of disappearance of DHD-J commander-in-chief Niranjan Hojai, the Chief Minister said that proper measures would be taken against Hojai if caught.
He however, said that he was not aware as to how the DHD-J C-in-C disappeared. He also expressed his ignorance regarding the involvement of any Government officials in the disappearance of Hojai.
It needs mention here that Hojai has been named as one of the main accused persons by the NIA in its chargesheet, in the NCHAC scam.
