The decision to exclude politicians’ names from the action taken report (ATR) is that of the State government and the probe committee had nothing to do with it, Madhav Chitale, who headed the committee that looked into the alleged multi-crore irrigation scam in Maharashtra, said on Monday.
The government tabled the 1300-page probe report in the State Assembly on Saturday, along with the ATR. The report puts the bulk of the blame on officers rather than politicians.
Denying the allegation that his report safeguards politicians, Mr. Chitale said that his committee prepared the report based only on terms of reference mandated by the State Cabinet.
“We have stated that the chairman and the members of the Irrigation Development Corporation (IDC) are responsible for the irregularities,” Mr. Chitale told The Hindu from Aurangabad.
The opposition has accused the government of deleting specific portions of the report, indicating the involvement of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in the scam, from the ATR. Mr. Pawar was the State’s Water Resources Minister between 1999 and 2009 and chairman of the Irrigation Development Corporation (IDC).
“The politicians are not bound by government service rules. As a result, it was difficult for us to suggest possible action. Hence, we had asked the government to take appropriate action,” he said.
He expressed his inability to give a reason for the government’s decision not to mention the portion related to politicians in the ATR. “It is the government’s decision. My work was to file the report,” he said.
