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The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is likely to summon the Cabinet Secretary to seek clarifications on draft minutes of a Union Cabinet meeting in October 2004, regarding preparations for the 2010 Commonwealth Games (CWG).
Citing the Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG) report on the corruption in CWG, PAC members argued that the Cabinet Secretariat gave room for the Indian Olympic Association, then headed by former Congres MP Suresh Kalmadi, in organising the event.
In a meeting of the PAC with the secretaries of Home, Sports and Urban Development Ministries, the members argued that the CAG report had brought up two instances of waiver of government procedures. “They distorted the minutes of the first meeting of the Group of Ministers on CWG, chaired by the [former] Prime Minister [Manmohan Singh]. One of the major decisions of the meeting was to set up an organising committee under the chairmanship of Sports Minister to conduct the CWG. The Cabinet Secretariat changed the minutes to a different format allowing the IOA to get involved in the organisation of the meet,” a PAC member said.
Tuesday’s meeting of the PAC decided to summon the Cabinet Secretary to seek an explanation on the changes to the minutes. “The original draft minutes sent by the Sports Ministry was changed. Despite letters from the Sports Ministry, the Cabinet Secretariat did not correct the changes they made in the original draft. The Prime Minister’s Office accepted the note prepared by the Cabinet Secretariat. We will take this up seriously,” the member said.
The panel is likely to submit its report during the Winter Session of Parliament. When asked whether Kalmadi would be summoned, the member added that no such discussion took place in the PAC. “We will first hear from the officials,” he added.
The CBI, which is investigating the case, had earlier told the panel that 33 cases had already been registered related to the CWG scam, nine of which had been closed because of lack of evidence. The Delhi Police Commissioner will also be summoned by the panel soon.
In the three-hour-long meeting, the senior officials assured the members of a written submission by the government before October 31.
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