Patil, who heads the committee, on Thursday had criticised Mr. Kageri’s decision to stop the committee members from probing charges into “gross misuse of public fund during procurement of health equipment to fight COVID-19 in the State”. In a letter to the Speaker, Mr. Patil said Mr. Kageri had issued an order preventing him and the panel members from conducting the probe into alleged misuse of money by government departments in the procurement of health equipment for handling COVID-19. Mr. Kageri had responded to it saying that the restrictions were only on account of the lockdown. Mr. Ahmed told reporters that there were allegations against some Ministers for bagging the contract for the supply of PPEs and other medical equipment for the firms of their close associates. “We (the party members) have secured the information on these transactions and have passed it on to the PAC,” he said.

Source: The Hindu May 29, 2020 19:06 UTC