Skoda cars to ministers: HC issues notice to Maharashtra govt

A High Court bench here has issued notices to state chief secretary and finance secretary for crossing the 'purchase ceiling' in buying 43 new Skoda cars for ministers.

A division bench, comprising Justice J N Patel and Justice A H Joshi, issued showcause notices answerable in two weeks. They were responding to a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the purchase of 'luxurious and costly' Skoda cars for 43 members of Maharashtra ministry.

A city lawyer G C Singh in his PIL, quoting newspaper reports has questioned the wisdom of purchasing 43 Skoda cars for Rs 5.16 crore, while the state government was facing acute financial crunch and is under debt of over Rs 1 lakh crore.

The bench, while referring to a government resolution, observed that governor, chief minister and chief justice of High Court can opt for any car of any make worth over Rs 6 lakh, while a ceiling of Rs 6 lakh has been fixed for other functionaries for procuring cars.

The court pointed out that government should ignore propriety and purchase cars only costing less than Rs 6 lakh and should not proceed with its recent decision to buy Skoda cars.