The Cricket Association of Bengal’s (CAB) expenditure during 2007-08 increased manifolds as compared with 2006-07.

The previous committee, run by Prasun Mukherjee and his followers Samar Pal, Amitava Banerjee, Tushar Sarkar and Snehasish Ganguly, is finding it difficult to justify the hike.

The leave salary for 2007-08 was Rs 2.74 lakh according to the income & expenditure account of the CAB. The amount in the previous fiscal was a mere Rs 10,375. Travelling expenses for the board meetings increased to Rs 6.73 lakh in 2007-08 comapred with Rs 2.09 lakh during the year-ago period.

The disparity is also apparent in the board tournament accounts?from Rs 7.57 lakh in 2006-07 to Rs 15.17 lakh in 2007-08. The expenses for “tour & development of matches” rose to Rs 48.56 lakh from Rs 3.99 lakh in 2006-07.

Another major increase was in the amount spent for seminars in districts–it multiplied to Rs 36,373 from Rs 9,891 in the year-ago period.

Since Mukherjee is an IPS officer and worked as the Kolkata police commissioner, he and his team had to ‘satisfy’ the men in uniform with various refreshments, spending Rs 57.60 lakh during the test match between India and Pakistan. Ironically, the bill for tea and snacks for guests was Rs 5 lakh.

Mukherjee told FE: “I am unaware of the expenditure, which you have placed before me. I have left that responsibility on Samar, Amitava and Tushar. But I have something to say about IPL accounts. Current CAB officials have already received a set of papers related to IPL from me. I have tried to make them understand that over Rs 7 crore was not at all an expenditure. It was the amount of bills. “If the current CAB management finds any doubt or dispute in my papers, it should let me know and I am ready to make the picture crystal-clear?”

According to Samar Pal and Tushar Sarkar, the joint secretary and treasurer, respectively, in the Mukherjee regime, expenditure for stadium maintenance stood at Rs 96 lakh as against Rs 43.05 lakh in 2006-07. “One should understand that costs of materials and labour charges have gone up. So, there is no fabricated account,” Pal said.

Reaction of joint secretary of the CAB Bishwaroop Dey, a member of the Dalmiya camp, was acerbic. “Yes, we know that they fabricated a set of papers. We are also in doubt about IPL expenditure. How can expenditures amount to over Rs 7 crore for just seven matches? They will have to prove with documents,” Dey said.