Kerala Finance Minister alleges C&AG acted with 'mala fide' intent in KIIFB audit

Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac on Wednesday alleged that Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) acted with 'mala fide' intentions when it came to the auditing of Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB).

Replying to questions during the Question Hour in the Kerala Assembly, the Finance Minister said that 'some people' were disturbed by the growth the state is going to make with the funding from KIIFB.

"There was C&AG audit of KIIFB earlier too. The government is not against any auditing. But a constitutional body like C&AG shouldn't try to defame KIIFB. This time, C&AG acted with mala fide intention. Some people are unable to accept the growth Kerala is trying to make with funding from KIIFB," said Isaac replying to a question in the state assembly.

Further, he ruled out the second phase of KIIFB and said that the focus now is to complete the projects taken up on time.

"There were certain delays in projects that need land acquisition. The projects are in various stages of completion and some have been already completed. In one year we expect all projects to be in a working stage," he said.

Regarding a query on treasury fraud, Isaac said that Kerala has one of the best software managed by National Informatics Centre (NIC). " But we are ready to conduct a security audit by an external agency. When financial fraud came to light, the person was dismissed and department level enquiry is underway. Three people were dismissed in similar cases after this government came to power in connection with financial irregularities in the treasury," the Minister added.

( With inputs from ANI )