New Delhi, Aug. 8: Once again, the sport of golf has dragged the Army into a controversy. A report by the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India (CAG), tabled in Parliament on Friday, has indicted the current Chief of Army Staff, Gen. V.K. Singh (without naming him or his current position) for allegedly misusing his financial powers when he was earlier heading the Ambala-based “Kharga” 2 Strike Corps to sanction unauthorised construction of a golf club building at Ambala cantonment.
The CAG report blames the (then) commander of the Headquarters 2 Corps (GOC), who was the sanctioning authority in December 2006. The GOC at the time was none other than Gen. Singh, then a lieutenant-general heading the 2 Corps.
Army sources acknowledged that Gen. V.K. Singh had been commanding the 2 Corps earlier for some of the time when the work on the building was being carried out, but claimed that “all proper sanctions were taken” and that “there was no misappropriation or misuse of funds”.
But the CAG report clearly states: “In yet another case of misuse of financial powers, Commander of HQ 2 Corps... got a building constructed for a Golf Club in Ambala Cantonment under the cover of sanctions issued for carrying out special repairs....”
The report added: “An unauthorised club building, i.e., a double-storey building having a restaurant, kitchen, bar, committee room, museum, library, golf secretary’s office, reception, toilet block etc, was got constructed in Kharga Environmental Park and Training Area (KEPTA), another name for the Golf Club. It was also revealed that another building, P-258, was demolished by the contractor and a new building for the golf club came up at the site."
The CAG report noted that an earlier CAG report in 2008-09 had blamed a former head of the Western Command (and another officer) of allegedly misusing financial powers for the purchase of golf carts.
Speaking on Sunday, an Army source said: “It is a procedural issue. All proper sanctions were taken. Sanctions have gone through various headquarters. There is no misappropriation or misuse of funds. Works have been physically executed on the ground, checked, and handed over to the unit. Being a procedural matter, it will get resolved. Regarding ‘special repairs’, if something happens to a building, there is a provision that the whole architecture can be changed."
Army sources criticised the CAG’s findings, saying that “the local auditor at Ambala is unable to understand the point...”, and that “in any case, golf is an officially-recognised sport in the armed forces”.