Guwahati, Aug 5 (PTI) Leader of the Opposition in Assam Assembly, Debabrata Saikia, on Tuesday urged the Gauhati High Court Chief Justice to take suo motu cognisance over alleged violations of statutory
laws related to the financial health of the state.
In a letter to the Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court, Justice Ashutosh Kumar, the Congress leader alleged violations of the Assam Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (AFRBM) Act, 2005 and related constitutional mandates by the state government, leading to an escalating state debt crisis.
"These violations, explicitly acknowledged in the state's own annual budget reports, have precipitated an unsustainable debt crisis, estimated at Rs 1,84,463 crore as of July 2025, with a debt-to-Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) ratio of 25.2 per cent," he added.
Saikia stated that the crisis threatens the economic stability, public welfare and constitutional rights of Assam's citizens, necessitating urgent judicial intervention to enforce fiscal discipline and protect public interest.
"The Government of Assam's annual budget reports for 2021-22 to 2024-25 admit deviations from AFRBM targets, including excessive fiscal deficits and failure to maintain a revenue surplus," the letter stressed.
These admissions, corroborated by adverse findings from the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and PRS India, reveal a pattern of fiscal mismanagement, including understatement of deficits, misclassification of expenditures, underutilisation of funds and reliance on costly cash transfer schemes, it added.
"Such practices infringe upon fundamental rights under Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution of India and violate constitutional mandates under Articles 202, 266 and 293, warranting suo moto cognisance by the honourable court under Article 226 of the Constitution," Saikia said.
The AFRBM Act, 2005, mandates a fiscal deficit not exceeding 3 per cent of GSDP (with flexibility of up to 3.5 per cent for specific reforms) and a revenue surplus, but the state has consistently breached these targets, he alleged.
The LoP pointed out that Assam's fiscal deficit stood at 4.29 per cent, 4.83 per cent, 6.5 per cent, 5.2 per cent and 3.88 per cent for 2019-20, 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25 fiscal respectively, the letter mentioned.
"These violations, admitted in the state's own financial statements, are compounded by systemic irregularities highlighted in CAG reports, which point to potential fraud and corruption.
He also highlighted the debt scenario of Assam and said that the state's outstanding liabilities have surged by 107.34 per cent from Rs 59,425.61 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 1,23,214.80 crore in 2022-23 as per the CAG's State Finances Audit Report for FY'23.
"By July 2025, the debt is estimated at Rs 1,84,463 crore, based on fiscal deficit trends and net borrowings (PRS India, Assam Budget Analysis 2024-25). The debt-to-GSDP ratio has risen from 19.21 per cent in 2018-19 to 25.2 per cent in 2024-25, approaching the AFRBM Act's 28.5 per cent ceiling," Saikia said.
The annual growth rate of outstanding liabilities (23.32 per cent in 2022-23) have significantly outpaced GSDP growth (12.27 per cent annually), indicating unsustainable borrowing practices, he added.
The letter also stressed that the composition of Assam's debt underscores the reliance on market borrowings, which accounted for 81.98 per cent of total borrowing in 2022-23, with central government loans, international loans, and public account liabilities constituting the remaining portion.
"The RBI's 'State Finances: A Study of Budgets' (2023-24) notes that Assam's debt-to-GSDP ratio exceeds the 15th Finance Commission's recommendation of 20 per cent limit with interest payments consuming 8 per cent of revenue receipts (Rs 9,112 crore in 2023-24) severely limiting development spending," it added.
Saikia also claimed that the CAG reports from 2021-22 and 2022-23 revealed systemic irregularities that violated the AFRBM Act and suggested potential fraud and corruption.
"These findings indicate cosmetic accounting practices such as inflated budget projections and misclassifications, which obscure financial realities and facilitate potential misappropriation. The non-submission of utilisation certificates for Rs 37,991.70 crore in 2022-23 further raises concerns about accountability," he added.
The LoP further said that the Assam government's cash transfer schemes exacerbate the fiscal crisis as these schemes, lacking transparent cost-benefit analyses, were declared without vote-on-account and are in violation of Article 203, 204, 205 and 266 of the Indian Constitution.
"Every time the Cabinet of Assam sits for a meeting, schemes in the form of cash handouts and freebies are declared by the Government of Assam to electorally induce the voters at the cost of the state exchequer.
"Further, taking financial decisions as cabinet decisions, beyond emergency provisions, violates the Constitution of India safeguarding the separation of powers of legislative and executive," he added.
Asserting that the judiciary's intervention is essential to uphold statutory and constitutional mandates to safeguard taxpayers' interests and prevent further fiscal deterioration, Saikia requested the High Court to issue an interim stay on the announcement and implementation of new freebie or cash transfer schemes not included in the annual budget. PTI TR TR ACD
