Miscellaneous - This Day That Age   

dated March 6, 1956: Probe into Budget leak

The Finance Minister, Mr. C.D. Deshmukh, stated in the Rajya Sabha on March 5 that it was undoubtedly correct that leakage of Budget proposals had occurred. Mr. Deshmukh was replying to the Communist member, Mr. Bhupesh Gupta, who, just before the House commenced discussion of the Budget, got up and demanded the appointment of a special committee of the two Houses to enquire into the leakage. Mr. Gupta read portions of a letter stated to have been received by the Communist headquarters from a stocks and shares broking company of Bombay. He would not reveal the name because he feared police harassment. He stated that copies of the Budget proposals were being sold in Bombay. The letter stated that on February 26 copies of the Budget were sold for Rs. 2,000, on February 28 for Rs. 500, and on the evening of February 29, when the Budget was presented in the Lok Sabha, for Rs. 5. Mr. Gupta said that in a newspaper published in Bombay the Budget proposals were carried more or less accurately on February 29. The Chairman, Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, asked the Finance Minister whether he had anything to say. Mr. Deshmukh replied that he had very little to add to what the Prime Minister had stated in the Lok Sabha and it was a matter the seriousness of which could not be exaggerated. He added, "It was undoubtedly correct that leakage took place of the Budget proposals and we received evidence of it on the 29th when Mr. M.C. Shah, Minister for Revenue and Civil Expenditure, was in Bombay and was given, by the Chief Minister of Bombay, a piece of paper in which parts of the earlier proof of my Budget speech had been typed. He handed this over to me on March 1. I made some preliminary enquiries and then passed on the papers to the Home Minister requesting him to have an immediate enquiry into the matter."

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Cartoonscape
The Hindu Crossword 8543
Solution to Puzzle 8542
God's graciousness
dated March 6, 1956: Probe into Budget leak
dated March 6, 1956: President of Pakistan
Weather

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu