Smell of scandal in Navrangpura trust
Members charge trustees with nominating their own men in the Rs 200-crore Navrangpura Gam Dharmada Milkat Trust and selling its property worth crores surreptitiously
By Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Tuesday, May 12, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20City§id=3&contentid=2009051220090512021737173b1536c73)
A Rs 200-crore Trust has run into a legal tangle over who represents it as trustees. The dispute in the Navrangpura Gam Dharmada Milkat Trust is being heard by the Deputy Charity Commissioner who found three current trustees guilty of malpractice and fined them Rs 2000 each in four cases. The dispute in the Trust is primarily between Patels and other sections of the community. Set up way back in early 1910s, the Trust for the large part was controlled by Patels. It owned valuable properties, including Navrang School and a few famous temples, in Navrangpura, Naranpura, Memnagar etc.
The Patel hegemony was contested by other sections, including Thakores, before the Charity Commissioner in 1985. They sought a fair representation in the Trust. The Charity Commissioner ordered that the Trust would have seven trustees — four from among the Patels and three from other sections. A Trust on these lines was constituted in ’85.
Over the years, four trustees died leaving their positions vacant. In 2007, the three remaining trustees — Trust chairman Amrut Patel, Gunwant Thakore and Sana Prajapati — nominated their chosen men on the Trust and presented the revised list of trustees to the Deputy Charity Commissioner for approval. This move was in contravention of the Charity Commissioner’s order which stated that any revision in the representation could be approved only by his office and not his deputy. The new appointments were challenged by Trust member Bhaluji Thakore. He claimed that the three trustees made appointments and passed resolutions arbitrarily in violation of the norms.
Following the plea, Deputy Charity Commissioner V R Dave passed an order on April 18, 2009 ruling the new appointments on the Trust invalid. She said the trustees’ action flouted the directives given by the Charity Commissioner, and that they had made the decisions to suit their interest. Dave said Amrut Patel, Gunwant Thakore and Sana Prajapati had taken arbitrary decisions causing complications and disputes among the stake holders. She fined them Rs 2,000 each for each of the four names suggested as trustees. In effect, the three trustees would have to pay Rs 8,000 each as fine from their own pockets and not from the Trust’s funds.
Three stake holders Harivadan Patel, Dharmendra Patel and Bhaluji Thakore also alleged that Trust chairman Amrut Patel and other trustees sold Trust property worth crores surreptitiously, misappropriated revenue earned from publicity hoardings belonging to the Trust, opened a bank account and kept its handling to themselves.The Deputy Charity Commissioner also ordered her officers to probe the charges against the existing trustees, and submit a report in 15 days. Amrut Patel was unavailable for comment despite AM’s repeated attempts.
By Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Tuesday, May 12, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20City§id=3&contentid=2009051220090512021737173b1536c73)
A Rs 200-crore Trust has run into a legal tangle over who represents it as trustees. The dispute in the Navrangpura Gam Dharmada Milkat Trust is being heard by the Deputy Charity Commissioner who found three current trustees guilty of malpractice and fined them Rs 2000 each in four cases. The dispute in the Trust is primarily between Patels and other sections of the community. Set up way back in early 1910s, the Trust for the large part was controlled by Patels. It owned valuable properties, including Navrang School and a few famous temples, in Navrangpura, Naranpura, Memnagar etc.
The Patel hegemony was contested by other sections, including Thakores, before the Charity Commissioner in 1985. They sought a fair representation in the Trust. The Charity Commissioner ordered that the Trust would have seven trustees — four from among the Patels and three from other sections. A Trust on these lines was constituted in ’85.
Over the years, four trustees died leaving their positions vacant. In 2007, the three remaining trustees — Trust chairman Amrut Patel, Gunwant Thakore and Sana Prajapati — nominated their chosen men on the Trust and presented the revised list of trustees to the Deputy Charity Commissioner for approval. This move was in contravention of the Charity Commissioner’s order which stated that any revision in the representation could be approved only by his office and not his deputy. The new appointments were challenged by Trust member Bhaluji Thakore. He claimed that the three trustees made appointments and passed resolutions arbitrarily in violation of the norms.
Following the plea, Deputy Charity Commissioner V R Dave passed an order on April 18, 2009 ruling the new appointments on the Trust invalid. She said the trustees’ action flouted the directives given by the Charity Commissioner, and that they had made the decisions to suit their interest. Dave said Amrut Patel, Gunwant Thakore and Sana Prajapati had taken arbitrary decisions causing complications and disputes among the stake holders. She fined them Rs 2,000 each for each of the four names suggested as trustees. In effect, the three trustees would have to pay Rs 8,000 each as fine from their own pockets and not from the Trust’s funds.
Three stake holders Harivadan Patel, Dharmendra Patel and Bhaluji Thakore also alleged that Trust chairman Amrut Patel and other trustees sold Trust property worth crores surreptitiously, misappropriated revenue earned from publicity hoardings belonging to the Trust, opened a bank account and kept its handling to themselves.The Deputy Charity Commissioner also ordered her officers to probe the charges against the existing trustees, and submit a report in 15 days. Amrut Patel was unavailable for comment despite AM’s repeated attempts.
