Now why should the CAG report not be audited also?

Onkareshwar Pandey March 4,2025

The CAG report on the scam of ₹8,125.52 crore in Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority YEIDA, under the government of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Uttar Pradesh, was released on 19 December 2024. But the ruling BJP is silent on this.
By showing the CAG report, the BJP is saying that the Kejriwal government’s liquor policy led to a scam of ₹2,002 crore to the Delhi government. Delhi government officials say that the Delhi government’s excise duty from the liquor trade jumped by about 13 percent in the first three quarters of 2024-25 and the government’s revenue increased from Rs 5,361 crore to Rs 6,061 crore in the same period last financial year. Amazing – Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s government was lost in this liquor scam. The Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister and many ministers have served jail sentences, no evidence of the scam has been found till now, officials say that the revenue has increased and the BJP says that a scam has happened.

The same CAG had said in 2008 that there was an estimated revenue loss of ₹1.76 lakh crore in the 2G spectrum allocation (2008). Even then the BJP had created a huge ruckus. Dr. Manmohan Singh’s government was gone. And in 2017 the court acquitted all the accused. Was this some small feat? Did anyone ask the CAG, Sir, what was this?

Before moving ahead, let us discuss a recent report from UP.

Recently, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) report number 7, year 2024 has come, titled Performance Audit on the Working of Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA). It mentions in detail the failures and scams of the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath government of Uttar Pradesh. The report talks about a financial loss of ₹8,125.52 crore, which indicates corruption in land acquisition, project implementation, asset allocation and administrative mismanagement. Now the question is that the same BJP which is attacking the previous AAP government in Delhi on the basis of the CAG report, why is it completely silent on such a big scam in its own Yogi government in Uttar Pradesh.

Let’s see how a scam of ₹8,125.52 crores happened in YEIDA of Uttar Pradesh?

These are the major revelations of the CAG report:

The CAG report reviews the functioning of YEIDA from 2005-06 to 2020-21, which has exposed corruption and financial irregularities at many levels.

1. Irregularities in land acquisition

• CAG’s Uttar Pradesh Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority’s Performance Report No. 7/2024 on pages 31-42 states that the Yogi government’s authority misused Section 17(4) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, depriving farmers of proper compensation and the right to legal appeal.

CAG report on page 34 states: “YEIDA used the emergency section without proper reason in almost all cases, depriving landowners of the right to present their case. This resulted in a loss of ₹188.64 crore.”

2. Financial irregularities in projects
   The CAG report number 7/2024 on pages 47-63 states that (the Yogi government) wasted crores of rupees in the name of developing new infrastructure, but many projects remained incomplete.

-A loss of ₹38.63 crore was incurred as required performance guarantees were not taken from contractors.

-The CAG report on page 57 mentions: “YEIDA incurred unnecessary expenditure of ₹9.93 crore due to non-compliance of Indian Road Congress (IRC) guidelines.”

3. Misappropriation in sale of properties
   The CAG report on pages 65-82 and 78 states that “land prices were deliberately kept low. Due to wrong pricing policy, YEIDA incurred a revenue loss of ₹469.02 crore.” Industrial and commercial land was sold at wrong prices, leading to a loss of ₹175.55 crore. A loss of ₹95.59 crore was incurred as bank guarantee was not submitted despite exemption in stamp duty.
4. Administrative negligence and lack of accountability: On page numbers 155-167-162 of the report, it is clearly written that “YEIDA did not submit its annual financial report to the UP government for several years, leading to a severe lack of transparency and accountability. No action was taken against officials involved in several irregularities. Financial records and internal data were not maintained digitally properly, leading to a severe lack of transparency.”

Reports on corruption have come earlier too

Whether it is Delhi or UP, this is not the first time that CAG has exposed the financial irregularities of the governments.

For example, let us first take UP:

2019: Financial irregularities of ₹58,000 crores in Noida Authority scam.

2021: Crores of rupees were spent without transparency in many departments of UP government.

2022: Financial scams were confirmed in Jal Jeevan Mission, but no action was taken against any officer.

CAG report number 2 (for states) in the year 2014-15 also stated a loss of ₹1,200 crores to the government treasury due to irregularities in ration distribution under the Food Security Scheme in UP. But the state government did the formality of conducting an inquiry against some officers and sat down.

Similarly, in the last ten years, CAG has submitted several reports on the financial management of several state governments, including Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Assam, pointing out various financial irregularities and cases of revenue losses, but no concrete action was taken.

Here are some examples:
Gujarat: CAG Report No. 3 (for states) found that in 2015-16, Gujarat had incurred additional losses of ₹1,500 crore due to unnecessary expenditure and delays in irrigation projects. Investigations were conducted against some project officials, but no concrete action was taken against contractors and political leaders.

Madhya Pradesh: According to CAG Report No. 4 (for States) for the year 2016-17, Madhya Pradesh suffered a revenue loss of ₹2,000 crore due to irregularities in the allocation of mining leases. Some officials were suspended for show, but no action was taken against high-ranking persons.

Bihar: Irregularities of ₹500 crore in the MNREGA scheme in Bihar were discussed in CAG Report No. 5 (for states) for the year 2017-18. But here too, the matter was closed by taking action against some panchayat secretaries.
Assam: Irregularities in the purchase of equipment in the health department of Assam were reported in CAG Report No. 6 (for states) for the year 2018-19, which resulted in a loss of ₹300 crore. But here too, decisive action was lacking.

There are many such reports. If the government is of the opposition then you can make such a noise so shamelessly that the leaders go to jail and their governments are ousted, but if the report is against your government then sit in a tight spot and give them a clean chit.

Ajit Pawar, who faced more serious charges against him, got a clean chit while leaders like Kejriwal and Hemant Soren went to jail and Himanta Biswa Sharma is comfortably sitting on the post of Chief Minister. Isn’t this the wonder of this new politics of purity?

Sometimes it seems that the way CAG does its assessment is something that the public does not understand. For example, let’s take the 2010 Commonwealth Games scam. CAG had alleged irregularities of ₹1.73 lakh crore in it. After this, action was taken against many officials and leaders. But was the budget of the Commonwealth Games even that much? And it is amazing that the same CAG says that it was a great success event. India finished second by winning 37 gold, 27 silver and 38 bronze medals. But the scam exceeded its total budget. How?

Ajit Pawar, who faced more serious charges against him, got a clean chit while leaders like Kejriwal and Hemant Soren went to jail and Himanta Biswa Sharma is comfortably sitting on the post of Chief Minister. Isn’t this the wonder of this new politics of purity?

Sometimes it seems that the way CAG does its assessment is something that the public does not understand. For example, let’s take the 2010 Commonwealth Games scam. CAG had alleged irregularities of ₹1.73 lakh crore in it. After this, action was taken against many officials and leaders. But was the budget of the Commonwealth Games even that much? And it is amazing that the same CAG says that it was a great success event. India finished second by winning 37 gold, 27 silver and 38 bronze medals. But the scam exceeded its total budget. How?

CAG had estimated a revenue loss of ₹1.76 lakh crore in the 2G spectrum allocation (2008). But everyone knows how and for how much less than that 3G – 4G spectrum was sold after that.

What does the government do on the CAG report

According to a PRS report, the government sends all CAG audit reports to the concerned ministry, department or government company for response. The ministry has to respond to it within a certain time frame. The final audit report is then submitted to the Ministry of Finance (or the state finance department), which then submits it to the Parliament or the state governor. All CAG reports are public documents. 10 Ministries are also required to prepare ‘action’ notes on various observations and recommendations made by the CAG and submit them to the Public Accounts Committee or the Committee on Public Undertakings.

What does the government do on the CAG report

According to a PRS report, the government sends all CAG audit reports to the concerned ministry, department or government company for response. The ministry has to respond to it within a certain time frame. The final audit report is then submitted to the Ministry of Finance (or the state finance department), which then submits it to the Parliament or the state governor. All CAG reports are public documents. 10 Ministries are also required to prepare ‘action’ notes on various observations and recommendations made by the CAG and submit them to the Public Accounts Committee or the Committee on Public Undertakings.

However, in the case of W.P. (Civil) Arun Kumar Agarwal vs. Union of India (469 of 2012 dated 9-5-2013) filed in the Supreme Court, Hon’ble Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan and Justice Deepak Mishra said that the CAG report is always subject to scrutiny by the Parliament and it depends on the Parliament whether it comments on the report after receiving it or not. Therefore, it depends on the then Central Governments to take action on which case or not.

Now some independent experts are also expressing apprehensions about changes in the conclusions of some reports due to political pressure or influence on the CAG. Lack of necessary action after publication of reports has been observed.

At one time former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had praised the independence and impartiality of the CAG and said that this institution is necessary for strengthening democracy. Before that Prime Minister Chandrashekhar had described the CAG reports as important in reviewing the policies of the government. Dr. Manmohan Singh had also described the role of CAG as important in ensuring transparency of government expenditure and increasing the accountability of the government. But is this happening now?

Has CAG also become a caged parrot? Otherwise why did nobody ask that if your report on the alleged 2G spectrum scam was correct, then how did all the accused get acquitted by the court? The UPA government was gone, its ministers went to jail. If those accused were innocent, then why did they have to serve jail term? And who will compensate for their mental torture and loss of social and political image due to jail term? If central ministers, chief ministers, deputy chief ministers, MPs and MLAs can be sent to jail, governments can be defamed and toppled on the basis of such allegations, then where is justice and who will give justice to the common man?
If the CAG report in Delhi is proof of corruption, then it is so in Uttar Pradesh too. So why should action not be taken against both?
But it seems that the strategy of the BJP is to selectively use the CAG report to corner opposition parties like AAP. It is being accused of suppressing the scams in its own ruled states and directing the Godi media to focus only on the CAG report of opposition states.

Questions on BJP’s silence and double standards: The question is obvious that what will the BJP, which is cornering the AAP party in Delhi on the basis of the CAG report, say on the scam of ₹8,125.52 crores in Uttar Pradesh? In recent years, it is clear from the many examples of using CAG reports for party convenience to put the opposition in the dock and cover up its own cases that the ruling BJP has started using these reports as a political weapon.
BJP

Has CAG also become a caged parrot? Otherwise why did nobody ask that if your report on the alleged 2G spectrum scam was correct, then how did all the accused get acquitted by the court? The UPA government was gone, its ministers went to jail. If those accused were innocent, then why did they have to serve jail term? And who will compensate for their mental torture and loss of social and political image due to jail term? If central ministers, chief ministers, deputy chief ministers, MPs and MLAs can be sent to jail, governments can be defamed and toppled on the basis of such allegations, then where is justice and who will give justice to the common man?
If the CAG report in Delhi is proof of corruption, then it is so in Uttar Pradesh too. So why should action not be taken against both?
But it seems that the strategy of the BJP is to selectively use the CAG report to corner opposition parties like AAP. It is being accused of suppressing the scams in its own ruled states and directing the Godi media to focus only on the CAG report of opposition states.

It is clear that the Modi government’s policy of ‘na khaunga na khaane dunga’ or the anti-corruption campaign is just a political gimmick.
That is why it is important that the functioning of CAG and its performance reports should not be audited now? Why should the government not be asked that apart from making all the CAG reports a political issue, how many serious actions were taken against the culprits.
Theft, corruption and scams weaken the credibility of any nation. The common people remain deprived of their rights, while those in power misuse their power fearlessly. There is a lot of discussion on problems, but no solution – now not talks, action is necessary.