cag up in arms over ril reluctance

Even as RIL mounts its counter offensive against RNRL with a series of letters to the oil ministry debunking ADAG claims on hoarding of KG Basing gas, it needs to look at itself in the mirror and check whether is weel vis a vis lies and more lies. CAG has rejected the audit meet records, saying that the oil ministry is circulating details sans its views on expenses by RIL. After DGH V K Sibal put out a release on his website on August 5 saying that CAG had completed its audit of RIL's Andhra offshore field costs which proved to be false, the battle has escalated. The very next day CAG denied this saying that it had problems accessing papers of private firms. This led to red faces both in DGH and oil ministry. One doubts whether Mukesh Ambani is ever red faced or embarrassed about anything.

Now CAG has accused the oil ministry of circulating records of two crucial meetings without its concurrence or confirmation on the issue of auditing the expenses incurred by private companies, in developing oil and gas fields. CAG's principal director of audit has slammed the records sent on August 24, telling the ministry that they do not fully reflect the discussions that took place or take into account the government's auditors prerogative and views.

Expressing reservations over the record on RIL's field, the CAG latter said, "The understanding of our audit team was that during the meeting, the contractor's representative expressed considerable reluctance to provide access to records for the previous years till 2006-07 and no dates for the entry conference were discussed or decided during the meeting... such a conference will have full purpose only when we have documented clarity about our exact audit access. So far we have not received any such written confirmation of such access."

Despite RIL's protests over everything being above board as far as KG D6 fields capital expenditure development plans not being gold plated, it is clear that it continues to obstruct and obfuscate CAG's attempts to get to the bottom of the case. Will truth reveal itself?