Sir,

The Karnataka State Audit and Accounts Department (KSA&A Department) conducted an audit of MUDA on Aug. 23, 2024 and so promptly, within a week, detected misappropriation of Rs. 9,41,46,048, in the fiscal year 2022-23.

Indeed, KSA&A Department’s official website logo bears the words in capital letters: “WITHOUT FEAR OR FAVOUR”, although that may be taken with a fistful of salt, much like Karnataka State Government’s “Government’s Work is God’s Work” engraved on granite above the entrance to Vidhana Soudha.

From the exposé in SOM, it appears that officials at various levels in MUDA, over many years, have displayed gross inefficiency, dereliction of duty, misuse of official power and authority and failure to administer public funds according to rules and procedures.

Scams concerning irregular plot allotment by MUDA are not new. There have been news reports over several years in this connection and complaints from individuals being allotted sites, which were already allotted to another person earlier, individuals who had been waiting for many years while later applicants were allotted plots, etc.

Thus, it appears that KSA&A Department may not have conducted periodic audit of MUDA, since Rs. 9.41 crore is unlikely to have been misappropriated in just one fiscal year, namely 2022-23.

However, if KSA&A Department staff had indeed carried out audit of MUDA for earlier fiscal years, they were not as meticulous in their work as the staff who carried out audit on Aug. 23, 2024. Or worse, the concerned MUDA staff had successfully “convinced” the audit staff that there were no irregularities.

Audit authorities are appointed to keep check on executive excesses and irregularities, so that public funds are put to correct use and to disincentivise corruption. But connivance between the oversight authorities (Auditors) with the executives who administer public funds, inevitably lead to well-orchestrated corruption.

The KSA&A Department’s programme of auditing State Government bodies needs to be overseen at the highest levels of State governance and its Reports subjected to State Legislative oversight.

Notwithstanding, the current exposé leads one to wonder: “Who will audit the Auditors?”

— Maj. Gen. S.G. Vombatkere (Retd)., Yadavagiri, 29.8.2024

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