CAG team begins audit of Haryana State Warehousing Corporation's tender issued by Khemka

CHANDIGARH: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) officials have initiated the process to audit the award of works to a Gujarat firm during IAS officer Ashok Khemka's tenure in the Haryana State Warehousing Corporation (HSWC) in 2009-2010. HSWC managing director Ramesh Krishan told TOI on Saturday that the audit had recently been initiated and they would provide each information to the CAG team as sought by it.

Haryana government, in November 2013, had sought a special audit about the award of works worth Rs 8 crore for replacement of asbestos sheets with the new 'trussless galvalume' sheets in foodgrain storage godowns of HSWC when Khemka was its MD.

The state government had alleged that Khemka had violated norms by giving repeat orders to the firm without inviting fresh tenders. While Khemka has been informing the authorities that the work was allotted to the firm after approvals from the competent authority.

Even before the initiation of CAG audit, the Haryana government had decided to hand over the matter to CBI for probe in January. Next month the government put the probe on hold till the outcome of CAG audit into the matter after it was felt that too much speed in actions against Khemka could prove counter-productive, especially when parliamentary polls were round the corner.