The Wire Staff 
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has rapped the Uttarakhand government over the alleged misuse of funds meant for the environment.
On March 5, the a bench of Justices B.R. Gavai and A.G. Masih took note of a news report brought to its notice by amicus curiae K. Parmeswar. It said that the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) had revealed that Uttarakhand forest authorities used funds meant for compensatory afforestation for the purchase of iPhones, laptops, fridges and coolers, and on the renovation of buildings, and on court cases, reported LiveLaw.
The CAG reports looked at the use of the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) funds between 2019 and 2022.
The Supreme Court has called on the chief secretary of Uttarakhand to explain why these funds were used for inadmissible purposes.
“The CAMPA fund is to be utilised for increasing the green cover. Utilisation of the same for non-admissible activities and not depositing the interest as per the Act with the SCAF is a matter of serious concern. We therefore direct the Chief Secretary of the State to file an affidavit on these aspects by the next date,” the bench said.
The court also mentioned that interest of Rs 275.34 crore between 2019-20 and 2021-22 has not been paid, despite repeated requests from CAMPA authorities.
PTI reported that the CAG report had it that the state government acknowledged the issue and claimed that Rs 150 crore of the interest liability was deposited in July 2023. However, a substantial amount remained unaccounted for, it was alleged.
LiveLaw also reported that Justice Gavai told counsels representing Uttarakhand that if no satisfactory answer is received by the chief secretary by March 19, then the representative will be summoned on the next day itself.
The observation came while the bench was hearing a 1995 public interest litigation, TN Godavarman Thirumulpad v. Union of India, over environmental conservation and preservation of forests.