The special investigation team (SIT) to inquire into the multi-crore irrigation scam will not enjoy powers under the Commission of Inquiries Act, the government has made clear.
Headed by Madhav Chitale, a former chairman of the Central Water Commission, the probe team will lack the authority to issue summons. It can, however, base its findings on various reports, including the water resources development ministry’s own position paper (White Paper) on the sector.
Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and his deputy, Ajit Pawar, made the government's position clear in this regard today. The government is yet to finalise the panel’s terms of reference and its other members.
Pawar added the government would not agree to all the demands made by opposition parties on the issue. According to the opposition, the probe would be a farce. The Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have said taxpayers’ money was lost because of cost and time overruns in implementation, due to a nexus between contractors, government officials and politicians.
Medha Patkar and some non-government bodies have also said a critical report is most unlikely from the Chitale-led SIT.
Within seven months in 2009, the cost of 38 irrigation projects being implemented by the Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation had escalated by about Rs 20,000 crore, from the earlier Rs 6,670 crore. As many as 30 of the 38 projects were granted hurried approvals in just four days, including 11 on a single day in August.
A Sena leader in the legislative assembly told Business Standard, “The SIT in the present format has no teeth. SIT members should include former police officers and experts, and the committee should have the power to make recommendations, so that the real culprits are punished.”
State BJP president Sudhir Mungantiwar said the present format of the panel showed the probe was an eyewash.
The government had agreed to set up an SIT after the opposition remained adamant on its demand and disrupted the legislature’s proceedings. The government had argued an SIT was not needed, as a 900-odd pages White Paper, in two parts, had already given project-wise investments, and had also cleared some basic questions on what had happened.
