Patna, July 13: The inspection report of the accountant general (AG) has pointed to the frequent tours of Governor Devanand Konwar and declared many of his out-of-Patna stays as “unauthorised” as requisite permission from the President of India to travel outside the state had not been taken.

The report also mentions that the governor had gone to his home state Assam much more than the stipulated two times a year.

Under the rules, a governor has to take prior sanction of the President before leaving his state. Both the President and the Prime Minister are to be informed when a governor intends to be absent from the state except when it does not involve a night away. Applications for such sanctions are to be made by letter or telegram addressed by the governor’s secretary to the President’s secretary.

The test check of the governor’s tours has revealed that Konwar was absent from Bihar for 79 days in 2009-10 for which a sum of Rs 4,66,811 was paid by the state for his air travel. In 2010-11, he was out of the state for 73 days, during which Rs 3,30,011 was paid towards airfare. In 2011-12, the governor’s stay outside the state was for 154 days and an amount of Rs 7,81,708 was spent for his airfare. The AG report says that many of the governor’s tours were not approved by the President and the money paid by Raj Bhavan for travel on such tours was liable for recovery.

It has further pointed out that under rules laid down in the Governors’ (Allowance and Privileges) Act, 1982, a governor travelling on duty is entitled to take his spouse or any other person in lieu with him at government expense. It has pointed out that on December 17, 2011, the first lady, Mrs Neeva Konwar, travelled from Delhi to Guwahati while the governor was in Delhi on that date. The AG has pointed out that the spouse of the governor was not accompanying the governor and wanted to know how her air tickets were reimbursed.

It has further pointed out that Governor Konwar performed journeys to his home state Assam on four occasions in 2009-10, nine times in 2010-11 and 12 times in 2011-12. Quoting rules, the AG has said that the governor was entitled to travel on private business twice a year with his spouse or an aide and stressed that Konwar’s tours to his home state had exceeded the limit. The AG report specifies that six of the tours undertaken by the governor were not approved by the President of India. The total expense incurred on airfare for these tours was Rs 1,836,84 on the governor and Rs 2,48,289 on his accompanying staff. The report has pointed out three tours to Guwahati and Delhi in which he had overstayed the approved programme without assigning any reason.

Raj Bhavan sources said the reply to the issues raised by the AG in its inspection report is being prepared.