DIMAPUR, JULY 8 (MExN): Against Corruption and Unabated Taxation (ACAUT), Nagaland has demanded that the State Vigilance Commission (SVC) take suo moto cognizance of the fuel adulteration case and investigate the connection between the fuel adulteration kingpins and the Food and Civil Supplies (F&CS) Department since the core issue involves siphoning off of SK OIL.
“The 6 fuel adulteration units, as jointly busted by the Dimapur police, the district administration and the ACAUT on June 27 should have grabbed the immediate attention of the SVC. It will be extreme dereliction of duty if the Commission, instead of taking up the case suo moto should wait for the complainants, in this case the ACAUT, to file FIR before it,” Media Cell ACAUT stated on Friday.
Alleging that the past record of the SVC in solving cases has been nothing short of discouraging, ACAUT cited a few instances.
In 2014, when ACAUT detected anomalies in procedures of the Excise Department with 30 lakh worth of seized IMFL missing, the SVC only recommended suspension of a few constables and lower ranked officers to cover-up the case of such magnitude by making the lower cadres scapegoats in order to “protect the top fishes in the Excise Department.” In 2015, ACAUT filed a complaint regarding the backdoor appointment of 36 BDOs. However, it alleged that the “sons and daughters of top bureaucrats and politicians INSERT IGNOREed as BDOs probably stopped the Commission from pursuing the issue.”
Again, in the earlier part of 2016, ACAUT said it filed a case regarding the misappropriation of Rs 402 crore in the F&CS department as per the CAG Report. The complaint also mentioned specific cases of siphoning of PDS items yet the case seems to have met its dead end without even starting, it alleged.
Taking these instances into account, ACAUT stressed that if one has to go by precedence, and knowing that the “under par Commission is not known to have solved high profile cases/issues involving powerful politicians and bigwig bureaucrats,” and the issue of “fuel adulteration” being precisely this, then the outcome and handling of the case by the SVC seem obvious.
“Therefore, the question which begets the Naga public is, shouldn’t the SVC be declared defunct and powerless department? Therefore, scrapped in the interest of the public on the grounds of it becoming a liability to the state finance and wasting public money? It so far appears to be serving only as a decorative arm for the state.”
Stating that the criminal aspect of the case is already under investigation by the Dimapur police, ACAUT said the SVC should aid the investigation by probing “why” several lakh litres of SK Oil meant for the poor people should be diverted into the adulteration business with the knowledge of the F&CS department.
“If the SVC cannot take up this case for whatever reasons, the staff and members should honorably resign instead of bringing this body into disrepute time and again,” ACAUT has advised.
