10 Maharashtra ministers guilty of financial lapses: Opposition

Mumbai, April 4 (IANS) Maharashtra's opposition parties said Wednesday that 10 state ministers had reportedly been held responsible for financial lapses and causing losses to the state exchequer by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in its latest report.

"We have their names but we cannot disclose them till the CAG report is officially released," said Leader of Opposition Eknath Khadse of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

According to Khadse, the 10 ministers have been indicted for misusing their positions to dole out favours to institutions run by them or their family members in the state.

He alleged that though the CAG report has already been submitted to the government and the opposition, the treasury benches were reluctant to table it to avoid a debate on it.

Another BJP legislator Devendra Phadnavis requested Speaker Dilip Walse Patil to direct the government to table the report since the opposition wanted to discuss and debate its findings.

Khadse said that the ministers concerned could then come out with explanations on the CAG report and present their version.

Nationalist Congress Party member Nawab Malik, while accusing the opposition of maligning the government's image, said that the opposition parties could discuss it in the public accounts committee of the house.

The speaker, while ruling that the opposition's motives could not be questioned, said the CAG report could not be discussed by the public accounts committee before it was tabled in the legislature.

The state budget session is scheduled to end April 20 and the CAG report is likely to be officially released before that.