CWG probe: Panel may miss deadline

The V K Shunglu Committee, which was given three months to prepare a report on financial irregularities in 2010 Commonwealth Games, is likely to miss its deadline and will have to be given an extension. It was appointed on October 14, the day the Games ended, but began its work on October 25.

Sources in the Organising Committee say most of the files that the committee requires for its investigation are with the Comptroller and Audit General (CAG) office, which is also conducting an audit of the Games.

To an enquiry by Business Standard, Shunglu neither confirmed nor denied that the committee was going to seek an extension.

Shunglu, himself a former Comptroller and Auditor General, was appointed by the prime minister to head the probe into the Games, which was held between October 3 and 14. Later, he was given the status of a Supreme Court judge and all agencies were asked to cooperate with the investigation.

Now, sources say the committee has sought files which relate to the construction and renovation of stadiums, but these can only be made available to it once they are returned by the CAG. The CAG is expected to table the findings of its audit during the Budget session of Parliament, scheduled to start in February.

Business Standard has also learned that the Committee has called very few people for questioning, unlike the Central Bureau of Investigation, and is relying more on the files relating to the conduct of the Games.

Earlier, soon after the constitution of the panel, questions were raised over the need of having a probe by the Shunglu Committee when the CAG, CBI and the Enforcement Directorate were already conducting their own investigations.