Alleging that the Fourth State Finance Commission continued beyond its five-year tenure in violation of the Constitution, West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Sunday said members of the panel are “liable to return salary” and “all expenses need to be recovered as public money cannot be so squandered”.
He also claimed the SFC did not make recommendations to the governor since 2014, which, he described as “collapse of constitutional mechanism”.
“SFC under constitution is for five years. Fourth SFC @MamataOfficial continued beyond in violation of Constitution. Chairman and Members are liable to return salary and perks to State and all expenses need to be recovered from concerned as Public money cannot be so squandered,” he said on Twitter.
However, Abhirup Sarkar, the chairman of the Fourth State Finance Commission, told PTI that the members of the panel did not receive any fee after submitting their report to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in February 2016.
The fourth SFC was constituted by the West Bengal government in April 2013.
Asked about the allegation, Sarkar said, “There were three part-time members of the commission. They used to get sitting fees for their meetings. We have not received any money after submitting our report in February 2016. No new SFC has been formed yet.”
Notably, Dhankhar and Mamata Banerjee’s TMC government have been at loggerheads ever since he assumed office in 2019.
“State Finance Commission (SFC) @MamataOfficial under Articles 243-I & 243Y, is required to make recommendations to Governor that are to be laid before the Legislature of the State. What a collapse of constitutional mechanism, since 2014 not a single recommendation to Governor,” Dhakhar said on the microblogging site.
He also said, “Recommendations to Governor are for principles that should govern the distribution between state and panchayats/municipalities of net proceeds of taxes, duties, tolls and fees leviable @MamataOfficial, which may be divided and allocated between state and panchayats/municipalities.”
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