Irregularities of Rs 5 cr in ICMAI account: CAG draft report ( Exclusive)

A CAG draft report has found financial irregularities of Rs 5 crore in the accounts of the Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICMAI) in the purchase of a building by its Northern India Regional Council (NIRC).

According to the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) draft report accessed by , the NIRC of the ICMAI overpaid Rs 5 crore for the purchase of a building in Noida (Uttar Pradesh) without seeking necessary approval.

ICMAI President Anand Apte on Tuesday accepted the inconsistency reported by the CAG draft in the payment made by his organisation but added that this wasn't the final CAG report.

Asked if he had ordered any internal audit in this regard, Apte said: "There is no need for any audit. We only need to submit some more documents."

Established in 1944 as a statutory body under an Act of Parliament, the ICMAI was earlier called the Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India (ICWAI).

According to the CAG draft report, the ICMAI had earmarked Rs 15 crore for purchase of a ready-to-move building for the NIRC in the Delhi-NCR region in its budget for 2013-14, as its existing office on Lodhi Road was proving insufficient.

However, it paid Rs 20 crore for the building it bought in Sector 62 at Noida, without seeking necessary permission from the Institute.

The NIRC of the ICMAI was then chaired by Vijender Sharma.

According to the CAG draft report, the Institute's then Secretary C.M.A. Kaushik Banerjee privately wrote a letter to then Chairman Sharma requesting immediate transfer of Rs 5 crore to the ICMAI account as they were in the last stage of acquiring the property in Noida.

Following Banerjee's request, Rs 5 crore were transferred through cheque number 196668 to the ICMAI account in the Indian Overseas Bank on June 29, 2013, for which Sharma did not seek the Council's approval.

The CAG draft report said the NIRC was not even authorised to approve disbursal of such a big amount, which required clearance from the Central Council of the ICMAI.

The CAG draft report said the documents submitted for the audit of accounts contained no record of any approval of Rs 5 crore sought from the Central Council. Calling this a serious matter, the draft report asked the ICMAI to order an investigation into it.

Following the CAG draft report, the Office of the Chief Controller of Accounts on May 9 wrote to the NIRC Chairman seeking his reply on the discrepencies in its accounts. The Chairman has been asked to send his reply to the Finance Ministry.

As per ICMAI rules, purchase of any property can be done only from a government body and not a private party. Not only was the property referred to bought from a private party, but a real estate broker was also involved in the deal, says the CAG draft report.

Informed sources said the Institute hasn't started using the property, which was bought in 2013-14, as it needs more construction. So the property hasn't even served the purpose for which it was bought, the sources added.

( With inputs from IANS )