CAB: Prasun not money-wise

According to the report,under Mukherjee,the CAB had overspent on hosting the seven matches of Kolkata Knight Riders. Shah Rukh Khan-owned KKR had promised to reimburse Rs 3.5-crore to the CAB for organisational expenses. However,the CAB spent Rs 8.25 crore,and KKR refused to reimburse the excess amount. The panel comprised Justice (Retired) Shyamal Sen,Justice (Retired) Dilip Kumar Basu and former income tax commissioner NP Sengupta.

The report says Rs 6 lakh was paid to a banner agency that actually owed Rs 10 lakh to the CAB. Rs 12 lakh was paid as “hire” charges for installing a video screen at Eden Gardens,which can be bought for Rs 13 lakh. A top CAB functionary said the board’s food suppliers,Bijoli Grill,were paid Rs 95 lakh for food that wasn’t delivered at all.

However,Mukherjee rubbished the report as a “cheap political stunt” by CAB president Jagmohan Dalmiya. “Dalmiya has made it a political plank. He wants to snuff out his political opponents ,” he said. “This probe and report are an eyewash. CAB knows overshooting the budget was inevitable. They should approach the KKR for the reimbursement. I wrote to them explaining that the CAB has to recover its pending money from KKR,” he added. The panel also indicts the then CAB joint secretaries Amitava Banerjee and Samar Paul,and CAB treasurer Tushar Sarkar.

The CAB will present the report at a meeting of its member units on April 11 and decide the future action. Eden Gardens had hosted the matches in April-May 2008. Two months after,Dalmiya defeated Mukherjee in the CAB’s elections to become the president.