Has CAG Vinod Rai saved his ex-boss Chidambaram by dropping Padma audit?

CAG Vinod Rai

Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai, who took a hawkish stand against the government policies both in 2G spectrum allocations and Commonwealth Games, decided not to enter into the policy turf this time and dropped the move to audit Padma Awards selection. Had Rai, a 1972 batch IAS officer, allowed Director General Audit Central Expenditure (DGACE) Roy S Mathrani to carry on the Padma audit, it would have been embarrassing for home minister P Chidambaram who was Rai’s boss when Chidambaram was finance minister and Rai the banking secretary.

Padma Awards were instituted in the year 1954, but it has become more and more controversial in the recent years. It’s alleged that awards like Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri are at times given to the persons who had helped the ruling party in one way or the other.

The Joint Parliamentary Committee members, particularly of the Congress, grilled Rai on two occasions questioning the CAG’s calculation of the presumptive loss of whopping Rs 1,76,000 crore for not auctioning the 2G spectrum in January 2008.

The home ministry is the nodal ministry to select Padma awardees. Interestingly, Rai’s batch-mate in IAS, and that too from the same Kerala cadre GK Pillai was the home secretary till June, 2011.
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