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Bureaucracy not cooperating, alleges Mathur Commission

- Photo: Rohit Jain Paras

Justice N.N. Mathur addressing a press conference at Jaipur on Tuesday.

JAIPUR: The Justice N. N. Mathur Commission appointed by the Rajasthan Government to inquire into alleged misdeeds of the previous Vasundhara Raje regime on Tuesday accused the State bureaucracy of not cooperating with it and giving “incomplete and belated information” which it said was creating hurdles in its probe. Addressing a press conference, Justice Mathur said he and the two members of the Commission had to sift through an enormous direct and documentary evidence and pay attention to technicalities before arriving at conclusions about the charges of corruption. “We are still in a blind lane. But I can assure the State Government that the Commission can submit its interim report within three to four months if the bureaucracy, instead of paying lip service, promptly gives the relevant information sought by us,” he added.

The three-member Commission was appointed through an executive order on January 23 this year to probe charges of abuse of power, losses to the State exchequer, corruption, negligence, irregularities, improprieties, misappropriation of funds, etc., from 2004 to 2008 when the Bharatiya Janata Party was in power in the State. It is presently investigating the controversial land deals.

With the Commission’s six-month tenure expiring on July 23, Mr. Justice Mathur expressed the hope that the Government would extend the term to facilitate completion of work. The members – former State Chief Secretary Indrajit Khanna and former Director-General of Police H. N. Meena – accompanied the retired Rajasthan High Court Judge at the press conference.

Mr. Justice Mathur said the Commission had completed two-thirds of the work required for drafting an interim report in the limited time since March when it was provided with infrastructure. “The panel needs the services of two Deputy Secretaries and professional workforce who can carry out probe in the departments concerned,” he said.

The Commission has received a few files from the Jaipur Development Authority, the State Transport Department, the Revenue Department and the Bhiwadi and Neemrana industrial area authorities. The Industries Department has so far not sent any information, while the Cabinet notes regarding Special Economic Zones (SEZ) have been withheld.

Asked about the Commission’s appointment having been challenged in the Rajasthan High Court, Mr. Justice Mathur said the Government had stated in its reply to the show-cause notice that there was no need to constitute the panel under the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952: “It is a well-settled law that an executive order is sufficient to appoint a Commission to probe into the corruption charges.” Referring to advice from some quarters that the Commission should “focus on the system rather than the individuals”, Mr. Justice Mathur said nothing could stop the panel from probing the suspected role of government officials or politicians in the scandals during the previous BJP regime.

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