NRI Sabha president in soup over violating rules
Monday, 28/10/2013
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JALANDHAR: The state government will look into the functioning of the NRI (non-resident Indian) Sabha, as its president, Jasbir Singh Gill, is alleged to have spent beyond limit and hired people without the chairman’s mandatory sanction.
Chairman Anurag Verma, who is also excise and taxation commissioner, has issued guidelines that bar the sabha president from withdrawing more than
` 20,000 from the official account for any reason except paying the bills. Even clause 7(e) of the sabha’s constitution states: “Officers and employees shall be appointed and removed by the chairman”. Gill not only removed some of the senior employees, but also recruited new staff.
HT found that on August 14, payment of ` 14.31 lakh was made from the account to ANR Motor for a luxury Toyota Innova car; and on July 30, ` 2.19 lakh was withdrawn to pay to MG Store. On August 13, ` 1.30 lakh was paid to ST Computers for installing surveillance camera in the sabha’s office; and on July 23, ` 90,000 was paid for a lavish party thown to the NRIs at Hotel Redisson. For all of this withdrawal, no mandatory sanction was obtained from the chairman.
NRI Sabha president Gill said he was not bound to take anybody’s permission for withdrawing money from the account. Sensing that he had made a blunder by speaking in haste, he made a call to the reporter, later, to amend his version. “I am bound by the chairman’s guidelines definitely but whatever payment and recruitment I have made is according to the sabha’s constitution strictly,” he said.
He claimed that the financial powers had been given to him “verbally by NRI affairs minister Bikram Singh Majithia”. Confronted, Majithia ruled out any authorisation. “How can I give these powers to anybody, that too verbally?,” he said, adding: “If he (Gill) has done something wrong, he should be penalised.”
