House panel to look into audit report on PR Dept: Lokayukta

CHANDIGARH: Haryana Lokayukta Justice Nawal Kishore Agarwal (retd) has ruled that the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Haryana Assembly, and not the Lokayukta, is entitled to consider CAG reports highlighting financial irregularities in the state’s Public Relations Department.

Bhartesh Singh Thakur

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 12

Haryana Lokayukta Justice Nawal Kishore Agarwal (retd) has ruled that the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Haryana Assembly, and not the Lokayukta, is entitled to consider CAG reports highlighting financial irregularities in the state’s Public Relations Department.

RTI activist PP Kapoor had, in 2014, approached the Lokayukta against former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and then Director General (Public Relations) Sudhir Rajpal for allegedly publishing false advertisements under the “Sabse Aage Haryana” campaign.

Justice Agarwal ruled that “if policy decisions are advertised, it cannot be said the aforesaid act (publishing false advertisements) may lead to corruption”.

He added that “merely because one policy decision has been taken by the CM of the state, which was not implemented properly and effectively, it cannot be said that he or the Department of Public Relations, Haryana, is guilty of dereliction of their duties”.

During the case proceedings, the Principal Accountant General (Audit), Haryana, filed a report for 2013-14, highlighting large-scale financial irregularities in the department.

The CAG report highlighted that Rs8.76 crore of advertisements were given to “non-empanelled newspapers” and Rs14.07 crore was spent on the “formation of Samvad Society, whereas the same work (publishing a magazine highlighting government schemes) was being done by the Production and Arts Section of the department”.

The report added “government accommodation to reporters caused a loss of Rs30.45 crore and licence fee was not recovered”, while Rs87 lakh was spent as “unauthorised expenditure” on gifts to mediapersons. There was an “excess payment” of Rs14.06 lakh on state awards. Not just that there was payment of House Rent Allowance of Rs20.11 crore to “non-entitled officers”, there was “unauthorised expenditure” of Rs6.9 crore “on salary of contract staff of Haryana Kala Parishad” too.