Friday, April 3, 2009

INDIRA GANDHI NATIONAL CENTRE FOR ARTS SCAM

This Centre was set up as a trust in 1987 by a resolution of the Cabinet. The Government of India gave Rs. 50 crores out of the Consolidated Fund of India as a corpus fund to this Centre. It transferred 23 acres of land along what is surely one of the costliest sites in the world, Central Vista, the stretch that runs between Rashtrapati Bhavan and India Gate to this Trust. Furthermore, it granted another Rs. 84 crores for the Trust to construct its building. 6
The land was government land. The funds were government funds. Accordingly, care was taken to ensure that the Trust would remain under the overall control of the Government of India. Therefore, the Deed of the Trust provided, inter alia, 6
· “Every ten years two-thirds of the trustees would retire. The Government would fill one half of the vacancies caused. One half would be filled by nominations made by the retiring trustees.
· The Member Secretary of the Trust would be nominated by the Government on such terms and conditions as the Government may decide.
· The President of India would appoint a committee from time to time to review the working of the Trust, and the recommendations of the committee would be binding on the Trust.
· No changes would be made in the deed of the Trust except by prior written sanction of the Government, and even then the changes may be adopted only by three-quarters of the Trustees agreeing to them at a meeting specially convened for the purpose.”
Now, just see how Property of IGNCA was criminally misappropriated.
A meeting like any other meeting of the trustees was convened on 18 May 1995. The minutes of this meeting which were discussed the minutes were circulated officially by Dr Kapila Vatsyayan in her capacity as the Director of the Centre with the observation, "The Minutes of this meeting have been approved by Smt Sonia Gandhi, President of the IGNCA Trust." 6
What did the assembled personages discuss and approve? Even if the topics seem mundane, do read them carefully for they contain a vital clue, the Sherlock Holmes clue so to say, about what did not happen. 6
The minutes report that the following subjects were discussed: 6
1. Indira Gandhi Memorial Fellowship Scheme and the Research Grant Scheme.
2. Commemoration volume in the memory of Stella Kramrisch.
3. Sale of publications of the IGNCA.
4. Manuscripts on music and dance belonging to the former ruling house of Raigarh in M P
5. Report on the 10th and 11th meetings of the Executive Committee.
6. Approval and adoption of the Annual Report and Annual Accounts, 1993-94.
7. Bilateral and multilateral programmes of IGNCA, and aid from U N agencies, Ford Foundation, Japan Foundation, etc.
8. Brief report on implementation of programmes from April 1994 to March 1995.
9. Brief of initiatives taken by IGNCA to strengthen dialogue between Indian and Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, China.
10. Documentation of cultural heritage of Indo-Christian, Indo-Islamic and Indo-Zoroastrian communities.
11. Gita Govinda project.
12. IGNCA newsletter.
13. Annual Action Plan, 1995-96.
14. Calendar of events.
15. Publications of IGNCA.
16. Matters relating to building project.
17. Allocations/release of funds for the IGNCA building project.”
There is not one word in the minutes that the deed of the Trust was even mentioned. 6
This meeting took place on 18 May 1995. On 30 May 1995 Sonia Gandhi performed one of technical miracles. She wrote a letter to the Minister of Human Resources informing him of what she said were alterations in the Trust Deed, which the trustees had unanimously approved. Pronto, the Minister wrote back, on 2 June, 1995: "I have great pleasure in communicating to you the Government of India's approval to the alterations." 6
The Minister? The ever helpful, Madhav Rao Scindia. And wonder of wonders, in his other capacity he had attended the meeting on 18 May as a trustee of the IGNCA, the meeting which had not, according to the minutes approved by Sonia Gandhi, even discussed, far less "unanimously approved" changes in the Trust Deed. 6
And what were the changes that Sonia Gandhi managed to get through by this collusive exchange of two letters? 6
· “She became President for life.
· The other trustees two-thirds of who were to retire every ten years became trustees for life.
· The power of the Government to fill half the vacancies was snuffed out.
· The power of the Government to appoint the Member Secretary of the Trust was snuffed out; henceforth the Trust would appoint its own Member Secretary.
· The power of the President of India to appoint a committee to periodically review the functioning of the Trust was snuffed out; neither he nor Government would have any power to inquire into the working of the Trust.”
A Government Trust, a Trust which had received over Rs. 134 crores of the tax-payers' money, a Trust which had received twenty three acres of invaluable land was, by a simple collusive exchange of a letter each between Sonia Gandhi and one of her gilded attendants became property within her total control. 6
The usurpation was an absolute fraud. The Trust Deed itself provided that no amendment to it could come into force on any reasonable reading could not even be initiated and adopted without prior written permission of the Government. Far from any permission being taken, even information to the effect that changes were being contemplated was not sent to Government. An ex post "approval" was obtained from an obliging trustee. 6
One of the ''co-opted'' members inducted into the IGNCA by the coup of 1995 was that ''clean'' and gentlemanly ''man of integrity'' who, while being a pucca Delhiite, had become a member of the Rajya Sabha on the ground of being ''ordinarily a resident of Assam.'' His name is Manmohan Singh. 6
That "approval" was in itself wholly without warrant. Such sanctions are governed by Rule 4 of the Government of India (Transaction of Business) Rules, 1961. This Rule prescribes that when a subject concerns more than one department, "no order be issued until all such departments have concurred, or failing such concurrence, a decision thereon has been taken by or under the authority of the Cabinet." Other departments were manifestly concerned; concurrence from them was not even sought. The Cabinet was never apprised. The rule proceeds to provide, "Unless the case is fully covered by powers to sanction expenditure or to appropriate or re-appropriate funds, conferred by any general or special orders made by the Ministry of Finance, no department shall, without the previous concurrence of the Ministry of Finance, issue any orders which may... (b) Involve any grant of land or assignment of revenue or concession, grant... (d) Otherwise have a financial bearing whether involving expenditure or not..." 6
And yet, just as concurrence of other departments had been dispensed with, no approval was taken from the Finance Ministry. 6
The Indian Express and other papers published details about the fraud by which what was a Government Trust had been converted into a private fief. Two members of Parliament Justice Ghuman Mal Lodha and Mr. E. Balanandan began seeking details, and raising objections. 6
For a full two and a half years, governments of the Congress (I), and the two that were kept alive by the Congress (I), those of Mr. Deve Gowda and of Mr. I. K. Gujral made sure that full facts would not be disclosed to the MPs, and that the concerned file would keep shuttling between the Ministry of Human Resource Development and the Ministry of Law. 6
As a result, Sonia Gandhi continues to have complete control over governmental assets of incalculable value through technicalities collusively arranged. By these 'technical' devices, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, who has never had any known source of income by her own known professional skills, has managed to become the controller of one of the most extensive empires of property and patronage. 6
The latest statement of Mrs Sonia Gandhi, that her not having become a citizen of India was a mere 'technicality' is to be seen in this context. For her, India's laws and institutions, as also truth, are indeed mere 'technicalities' to be used for her convenience. 6
Now you can imagine capacity of this lady who wants to become Prime Minister of this country. A lady who can misappropriate hundreds of crores rupees even when she was not in power what she can do when she become the Prime Minister of this country. I have a suggestion for Madam in case she becomes PM of India - She should convert India into a trust and become its chairman for life. Mr Madhav Rao Scindia is no more there with us, but new Maharaja of Gwalior Mr Jyotiraditya is there to help her. I can hope that Madam would like this suggestion. If Madam reject my suggestion then there must be some more dangerous idea working in her mind, After all her father Stephano Maino was working in the Army of Mussolini. We all know how Mussolini came to power. Some time my inner conscious says that emergency idea of 1976-77 must have originated by Sonia. After all she was aware of such tactics.
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