Shubhangi Khapre on the row that has been stalling Parliament What did the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India on Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) say? When was the report submitted? The CAG’s report, ‘Financing of Renewable Energy Projects by Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited’, was tabled in Lok Sabha on April 30. It said that Purti Sakhar Karkhana Limited (PSKL), a bagasse-based co-generation project of the Nagpur-based Purti Group had violated the conditions of interest subsidy extended to it by IREDA, the government-owned financial assistance provider under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). According to the report, “IREDA could recover only Rs 71.35 crore out of Rs 84.12 crore recoverable from the borrower [PSKL], resulting in a sacrifice of Rs. 12.77 crore. The borrower violated the terms and conditions for subsidy schemes. Various irregularities in implementation of the. subsidy schemes were observed.” [related-post] How is Minister for Road Transport & Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari involved in this matter? The CAG report described Gadkari as one of the “promoters and/or directors” of PSKL. He was chairman of the company from 2000 to 2011. The MNRE released the interest subsidy in 2004, and the one-time settlement by PSKL — which the CAG said was short of the full amount — was done in 2009. Gadkari is the founder of the Purti Group, whose companies are involved in power generation, agriculture, production of ethanol, mining, green technologies and real estate. What is the opposition alleging in Parliament and outside? For over 10 days now, the Congress has attacked Gadkari on the grounds that he and his family cannot be seen separately from the activities of the Purti Group. Opposition MPs have repeatedly stormed the Well of the House demanding Gadkari’s resignation and a probe, forcing multiple adjournments and preventing the introduction of the GST Bill in the Rajya Sabha. (The Bill was sent to a Select Committee on Tuesday.) How has Gadkari responded to the allegations? On May 11, he told Rajya Sabha that the “CAG report has nowhere named me as a wrongdoer nor there is any adverse comment against me. There is neither any indictment nor any charge of corruption or misappropriation against me or PSKL”. The minister stressed the matter “was concluded in 2008-2009 as per. legitimate norms, when the UPA government was in power”, and that he was neither MP nor in a public office at the time. “I resigned as chairman in 2011 and since then I am no longer associated with it (PSKL),” he said. Gadkari said the CAG report was “deliberately being misinterpreted for political reasons”, “established procedure” should be followed, “and if any wrongdoing is established by the PAC,. the law should take its own course”. He made a second statement on May 12, repeating his defence, and offering that “If it is proved in any court of the world that I have done corruption worth even Re 1, I am ready to quit not only from the ministership but also as an MP.” What other controversies has Gadkari been embroiled in earlier? In 2012-13, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and the Income-Tax Department launched probes into the funding patterns of a Purti group company. Gadkari, who denied wrongdoing, had threatened I-T officials, saying they would soon cease to have the protection of the UPA leadership, and triggered protests by officials. The investigation was subsequently closed. Earlier this year, a whistleblower revealed internal communications of the Essar Group, which showed Gadkari had spent two nights with his family on a luxury yacht owned by the company off the French Riviera in July 2013. Gadkari told The Indian Express, “I have known the Ruias for over 25 years. When they learnt I was visiting Europe, they invited me. I see no conflict of interest here since at that time I was neither the BJP president nor a minister or MP.” Have the controversies impacted Gadkari politically? In 2013, Gadkari’s bid for a second term as BJP president suffered from the beating his image had taken as a result of the controversies over the previous year, and income-tax raids on companies linked to him. He denied all allegations, but chose to step aside, paving the way for Rajnath Singh to become president. Within the BJP, Gadkari is often seen as a rallying point for an anti-Narendra Modi faction.
