Ruckus in Maharashtra assembly over auditor's report

Mumbai, April 16 (IANS) A belligerent opposition Monday mounted pressure on the government to table in the assembly the official auditor's report on controversial land allotments in Maharashtra.

The opposition created ruckus in the assembly, accusing the government of delaying the Comptroller and Auditor General's (CAG) report.

The opposition lawmakers, led by Bharatiya Janata Party's Sudhir Mungantiwar, also demanded revoking the suspension of 14 legislators and forced adjournment of the house that led to cancellation of the question hour.

The government last week promised that it will table the report Monday,

Attempting to pacify the legislators, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said the report had been forwarded to Governor K. Sankaranarayanan.

"He (Sankaranarayanan) was away from the city and returned this morning. He will sign (the report) and send it back to the government and we shall table it tomorrow (Tuesday)," Pawar said.

Industry Minister Narayan Rane said there was no question of delaying the report. Tourism Minister Chhagan Bhujbal said the government had sought opinion from the state advocate-general on it.

Several Opposition members also wanted to know why the state cabinet should first see the report when it had to be presented through the governor.

To this, Speaker Dilip Walse-Patil pointed out that there was nothing wrong as the governor functions on the advice of the council of ministers.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Harshawardhan Patil said there were technical issues due to which the report could not be tabled.

However, on the issue of revoking suspension of 14 opposition legislators, the government avoided making any commitment.

The speaker ruled that this matter has to be jointly decided by the ruling and opposition members since the suspensions were done through a resolution brought in the house.

"Another resolution would have to be brought before the house," Walse-Patil said, and assured that he would bring both sides to the discussion table on revoking the suspension of the opposition legislators.