Without any doubt, the sell out of Nagaland House Commercial Complex at Kolkata will stand out as the biggest scandal early in the state’s history where a prime commercial plot has been given on a platter to a firm spearheaded by former retired engineer of Nagaland who had the privilege of having access to the corridors of power under various state governments and also known to be a confidant of some political leaders and close with top bureaucrats. The Nagaland House Kolkata scam was reported through several issues of this newspaper since 1992 to which former Governor Lok Nath Misra formed a panel to fight the case in court to regain back the complex. However, it proved an impossible task since the state government decided to legally hand over such a highly valued prime property through hopelessly one-sided lease agreements with Engineers India Pvt. Ltd (1982) now Civil Engineers Enterprises Pvt. Ltd (CEEPL).It may be noted that the Nagaland House complex was a turnkey project under Development Authority of Nagaland (DAN). As per the narrative description of the project, it was proposed to be a commercial-cum-guest House complex, comprising of an 11 storied office building of 12764 M2, a four storied Nursing Home of 832 M2, a six-storied VIP guest house of Nagaland government, a three storied office building of Nagaland government and a four-storied staff quarters of Nagaland government. As per archtech consultants, the project started in 1979 and completed in September 1984 (phase I) and May 1988 (Phase II). Mid-way during construction, the state government ran out of money. It was either planned or just simply inefficiency but it was Lady Luck smiling on the contractor who grabbed the opportunity by suggesting that loan has to be taken complete the project. The strange yet funny aspect was the claim that SBI would give loan to the contractor only if he obtains Power of Attorney from the state government. The rulers and bureaucrats in Nagaland again confirmed that other than pomp and show they have little interest in serious business of statecraft. Why was SBI only interested to give loan for a Nagaland government project to Shyamalendu Ghosal and not the government? Engineers India Pvt. Ltd. obtained Power of Attorney from the state government on the strength of the one-sided lease agreement. This deal was clearly a sell-out under which the state government ‘gifted’ the entire commercial complex on a platter to the contractor.The first agreement was signed by DAN and Shyamalendu Ghosal & Party (Civil Engineers Enterprise Pvt. Ltd.) at a throwaway monthly rental rate of Rs 5.50 per sq. ft. subject to enhancement of the rate at 10% after every 5 years. The bizarre agreement also entitled the lessee further renewal for another 20 years of windfall benefits under the same and hopelessly one-sided agreement. The state government under Congressrenewed the agreement in 1997 even before the lease was to expire in 2000.Not content with paying the beggarly rent, CEEL took over a transformer installed within the guest house premises by the state government courtesy a pliant DAN. Those days, it used to be said the contractor even virtually ran Nagaland House Kolkata for several decades and no confidential matter escaped him. Even the agreement was reportedly prepared by the same legal advisor(s) it was alleged. Today, after 36 years the government’s legal team has finally realised that the entire lease agreements were not only one-sided but legally untenable because they invoke West Bengal Tenancy Act. Legally the plot belongs to another state and so Nagaland house complex belongs to the state and cannot be under West Bengal Tenancy Act .In other states, politicians or activists would have caused uproar and even file PILs in the courts. The Nagaland House Kolkata scandal perhaps speaks volumes about how the state is being fleeced or mortgaged by a symbiotic relationship between corrupt politicians and bureaucrats.