Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma on Friday said that his Ministry had requested the CBI to probe "irregularities" at the national academy of arts — the lalit Kala Akademi — during the tenures of its two former chairmen after an internal probe failed to yield results. Sharma said the matter was referred to the CBI in July this year and that he had on November 20 written to the agency detailing the facts of the case and seeking to know the progress it had made in its probe. "There were certain irregularities in the functioning of the lalit Kala Akademi and for one-and-a-half years we had been investigating it using our local resources. Then we thought that an agency with a much larger capacity needed to conduct the probe and we asked them (the CBI) to do so in July this year. "We have asked the academy to cooperate with the CBI so that once and for all we can put a stop to the issue regarding the tenure of its two former chairmen — KK Chakravarty and Ashok Vajpei," Sharma said. The two chairmen are facing allegations regarding misappropriation of Government funds and causing a loss to exchequer allegedly by allowing certain artists to use the galleries free of cost. In the letter to the CBI, Sharma said that the agency needed to probe the "irregularities and violations of Government guidelines in the Akademi".
The ministry earlier constituted an internal committee to look into complaints received against Vajpeyi and Chakravarty for misappropriation of funds.
The minister also denied reports that he had requested for a fresh CBI probe into the matter.