Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday protested against the appointment of Defence Secretary Shashi Kant Sharma as the new CAG, alleging “clash of interest” due to his decade-long continuous service in the Defence Ministry even as the auditing of several defence deals were going on.
Addressing media here, AAP leader Prashant Bhushan blamed the UPA Government for weakening the watchdog institutions by putting “pliable” people in the job.
Pointing out that Sharma was involved in the decision-making process on defence purchases from 2003, Bhushan said as the CAG he has to audit the very decisions approved by him.
“Given the fact that Vinod Rai had given sleepless nights to the governments of almost all political parties and to some of the biggest corporates in the country, the absence of any procedure for selection of CAG and government’s complete discretion in this regard creates a scope for the government, in collusion with those corporates, to select a completely pliable and may be dishonest person as successor,” said Bhushan.
Accusing Opposition parties for their silence on evolving transparent mechanism in the selection of CAG, Bhushan said, recently several corporate houses were also showing interest in getting a “weak” officer for the post.
“Interestingly, the whole process of selection of Vinod Rai’s successor took place in complete secrecy. Yet, none of the political parties raised this issue. WhyIJ Because huge stakes are involved. Reliance’s KG Basin is being audited by CAG. Right from beginning, Reliance has been reluctant in getting itself audited.
They put all kinds of obstacles and did not provide records to the audit team.
The electricity companies in Delhi have resisted CAG audit and have gone to the court in this regard. All these companies could be waiting for the new CAG to be appointed. If the new CAG is a pliable person, one won’t be surprised if all of them agree to get themselves audited.
A weak and pliable CAG is in the interest of all political parties and some corporates who are corrupt,” said Bhushan.