HC demands action in sugar scam

PUNE: Taking note of the state government''s failure in initiating action against 26 cooperative sugar factories involved in the Rs 200-crore export sugar scam, the Bombay high court has directed the it to submit an affidavit in four weeks, giving details of what action was taken against these factories and how much money was recovered from them.
Addressing a news conference here on Friday, Shiv Sena MLC Kanhaiyalal Gidwani, who has filed a public interest litigation in the high court challenging the government inaction, said the court had also directed the government to submit an ''action taken'' report as an affidavit.
The directive was given by chief justice D. Bhandari and justice Dhananjay Chandrachud on Wednesday. Gidwani had contended that sugar meant for export was diverted to the domestic market by the sugar co-operatives, which had also evaded payment of Rs 9.4 crore in excise duty.
The Central board of excise and customs has announced an award of Rs 50,000 to Gidwani in recognition of his contribution to exposing the scam. "The award has been given for helping the excise department recover Rs 5.40 lakh as duty from the Dongrai Sangreshwar co-op-erative sugar factory, which was involved in the scam," Gidwani told reporters, adding that 10 per cent of the amount recovered is given as an award to the informer.