THE BATTLE FOR AUDIT IS WON! Noida, G. Noida, Y. Expressway

The battle is won for the CAG audit of Noida, G. Noida and Yamuna Expressway Authority! Common Cause has been campaigning for such an audit for several years and its PIL in this regard is still pending at the Allahabad High Court.

The UP Government has written to the Accountant General to start conducting such an audit immediately, as reported in the media. Earlier, the newly elected Yogi Government had approved the CAG audit of Ghaziabad Dev Authority and 29 other authorities set up under the UP Urban Planning and Development Act leaving out the three above-mentioned authorities. 

We subsequently wrote to the CM complimenting him for the cabinet decision and also requesting him to include Noida, G. Noida and Yamuna Expressway Authority in the ambit of such state agencies which were to be audited by the CAG. We brought his attention to the similarities between the above Act and the UP Industrial Area Development Act under which the NCR authorities have been established.   

Common Cause has been pitching for such an audit for several years. After our initial case was disposed of by the Supreme Court in March 2015, we approached the Allahabad High Court in September 2015 and the matter is still pending. 

Last year (Sept 15, 2016) we gave a representation to the Governor, Uttar Pradesh, following his proactive engagement on the Ghaziabad Authority and pleading for the inclusion of the Noida, G.Noida and Yamuna Expressway Authority in his campaign for transparency and accountability in UP's land development agencies.

Watch this space for more developments in the matter. 

image source: http://bit.ly/2ubTayo