SHILLONG: TMC leader Saket Gokhale has asked Meghalaya deputy chief minister Prestone Tynsong to “set the record clear” over the alleged ‘scam’ in the Shillong smart city project.
The TMC leader alleged that the “Shillong Smart City Ltd did not file its financial reports for over 3 years despite already having awarded contracts worth crores and having received crores of funds from both the Union Govt of India and the State Govt of Meghalaya”.
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TMC leader Saket Gokhale has written to Meghalaya deputy chief minister Prestone Tynsong on the matter after the latter responded to the allegations of a multi-crore ‘scam’ in the Shillong smart city project.
“You’re requested to kindly clarify as to why Shillong Smart City Ltd did not have an Annual General meeting for 3 years i.e. 2019, 2020, and 2021. And if it did, you really need to clarify and give proper justification as to why financials for these 3 years have not been filed by the company,” TMC leader Saket Gokhale stated in his letter to Meghalaya deputy chief minister Prestone Tynsong.
Gokhale said: “This issue is important and pertains to public money belonging to residents of Meghalaya as well as people of India.”
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“Therefore, I anticipate that you’ll be kind enough to explain this discrepancy in your response to me and set the record clear,” he added.
In response to the allegations of a multi-crore scam in the Shillong smart city project, Meghalaya deputy chief minister Prestone Tynsong had stated that “Shillong Smart City Ltd was waiting for its financials to be audited and for them to be vetted by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India before being filed”.
Tynsong also claimed that the “company’s financials for the years 2019, 2020, and 2021 had been audited as well as vetted by the CAG”.
Reacting to the Meghalaya deputy CM’s response to the allegations, TMC leader Saket Gokhale said: “Let me remind you here that under the The Companies Act, 2013, a company is required to file its financial reports within 30 days from the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting.”
“According to the requirements under law, the Annual General Meeting of Shillong Smart City Ltd. for the years 2019, 2020, and 2021 should have been completed by the month of March or September in those years. In the Annual General Meeting, the company’s board is required to take the audited financial statements on record,” Gokhale said.
He added: “Therefore, there is absolutely zero excuse for the company Shillong Smart City Ltd. to not have filed its financials for the years 2019, 2020, and 2021. If you claim is that the audit for these 3 years as well as for 2022 happened only this year, that’s a gross violation of the law.”
“It is incredibly astonishing that you’d use this justification for explaining why Shillong Smart City Ltd did not file its financial reports for over 3 years despite already having awarded contracts worth crores and having received crores of funds from both the Union Govt of India and the State Govt of Meghalaya,” TMC leader Saket Gokhale further said.
Earlier this month, TMC leader Saket Gokhale alleged a multi-crore scam in the Shillong smart city project in Meghalaya.
Gokhale had said: “NPP-BJP government of Meghalaya created Shillong Smart City Ltd in 2019 for implementing Modi’s smart city program. Over Rs 1008 crores have been given by government and projects started. And yet, the company has not filed a single financial report since 2019.”
“By not filing mandatory financial disclosures as required by law, there’s zero trace of how Rs 1008 crores of public money has been spent. Zero details on how contracts have been awarded,” he added.
The TMC leader also wrote to the nominee director of the Shillong Smart City limited (SSCL) – Dr Vijay Kumar D on the matter.
“It has come to my attention that since its incorporation, SSCL has not filed a SINGLE financial result or annual report with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs as is required under law,” TMC leader Saket Gokhale had stated in his letter to the nominee director of the Shillong Smart City limited (SSCL) – Dr Vijay Kumar D.
“Furthermore, since its incorporation, SSCL has been granted over 1005 crores of funds for various projects by both the Union Govt of India as well as the Govt of Meghalaya. In fact, several of these projects such as construction of commercial complex at Polo, Shillong, re-development of Laitumkhrah Market, Shillong, and others worth crores have already been awarded to contractors and work is on-going,” Gokhale had stated.
“It is, therefore, shocking that SSCL has chosen not to file its regulatory financial returns and is exhibiting zero transparency as far as the financials of the company are concerned,” he had said.