SHILLONG, April 7 � The Comptroller and Auditor General�s report might have exposed corrupt Indian politicians and bureaucrats for years, but Meghalaya Speaker Charles Pyngrope says the annual audit report isn�t above suspicion.
Strongly defending his predecessor, MM Danggo embroiled in corruption charges as unearthed by the CAG�s report, Pyngrope said today the report does commit mistakes.
�The CAG report is not the gospel truth, it commits mistakes,� Pyngrope said when asked about his comment on the items worth crores going missing from the official residence of Danggo after he vacated it as reported by the CAG.
He implicitly pinned the blame on the secretary and other officials of the Assembly, saying they must have maintained a register and ensured the items purchased did not go missing. �The former Speaker cannot carry the items on his head and leave without anyone noticing,� he said.
Several items worth crores of rupees went missing from the former Speaker�s residence. Some of these include: LCD TVs, PIV Lenovo, air conditioner, wall fan, cycling machine, tread mill, weight machine, pixna, TFT monitor, revolving chairs, dining tables, carpet and security-related items such as CCTV, cameras and intercom PABX.
In another case, Danggo took several legislators on a European junket in 2006, which also included the present Speaker in the delegation. All the delegates later submitted fake and inflated bills to claim Travelling Allowance. The matter is being probed by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
Pyngrope said the PAC is meeting regularly to probe into the matter for the past one year. �There is no time-frame for the PAC to submit its report,� the Speaker said when pointed out that it�s been over a year since the PAC was probing into the anomalies.
Pyngrope, nonetheless added, he would have no objection if the Assembly decides to constitute an all party committee to probe into allegations of corruption committed by legislators.
