People's Democracy

IN a press conference held at Delhi on February 1 afternoon, CPI(M) members of parliament Somnath Chatterjee and Nilotpal Basu released a letter addressed to the prime minister against the improper steps taken by defence minister George Fernandes to malign the institution of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India. The minister recently circulated among the MPs a booklet titled Aluminium Caskets authored by one R V Pandit. In fact, the minister allowed a private man (Pandit) access to confidential material and joined hands with him to campaign against a constitutional authority.

The CPI(M) MPs protested against this impropriety resorted to be the minister, and demanded his immediate removal from the cabinet. They also said each copy of the booklet is priced at Rs 50 but one doesn’t know who paid for the free copies sent to the (800-odd) MPs.

Fernandes has openly acknowledged that he and his office helped Pandit in writing and distributing the booklet. This booklet casts aspersions on an institution created under the constitution and its functioning, and is nothing short of a frontal attack on the CAG. The MPs said they did not intend to join issues with Pandit on the content of his booklet, which can be any way refuted point by point. The MPs only drew attention to the way Fernandes flouted the established procedure of dealing with the CAG reports. The CPI(M) MPs said this act of Fernandes is a major affront to the functioning of the parliament itself. They drew the prime minister’s attention to this gross impropriety so that immediate action could be taken against the minister, commensurate with the gravity of his misdemeanour. Only such an action can reassure the nation that such attempts against established conventions would not be permitted. Both MPs demanded the minister’s removal on the issue. (INN)