Charity panel’s role is suspect

BDTA faction that sold Pune church land was not registered with the body

MUMBAI: The controversial deal that allowed Pune’s Sharada Group to develop land belonging to St Crispin’s Home at Erandwane has come under a new cloud with the revelation that the trust that signed the deal was not registered with the charity commissioner.

In a series of reports last week, DNA had exposed how trusts and associations of the Church of North India which hold vast swathes of land worth several lakh crores of rupees were selling them illegally to favoured private developers. Angry church activists said these deals were fraudulent because the lands were owned by the government and the trusts were merely custodians.

A similar deal to develop the St Crispin’s property on Karve Road in Pune was signed between the Bombay Diocesan Trust Association Private Limited and Sharada Erectors, a company founded by Union minister Sharad Pawar's brother Suryakant, on March 14, 1997. According to documents with DNA, on October 14 that year, VT Purandare, charity commissioner, Bombay, sanctioned the subleasing of BDTA property (plot number 10, CTS number 12, Erandwane) “for a period of 99 years in favour of M/s Sharda (sic) Erectors on the payment of Rs3.43 crore”.

But records at the charity commissioner’s office show that till July 17, 2002, only BDTA Limited was registered with it. 

BDTA Private Limited was registered with the charity commissioner only in 2002.

The question, then, is how the charity commissioner's office sanctioned a deal submitted by a non-existent trust. Church activists led by Cyril Dara and Sandeep Gaikwad filed a written complaint with the charity commissioner on January 20, 2004, pointing out the anomaly. An inquiry ordered by the charity commissioner is still pending.

A similar complaint citing various illegal decisions was filed by Dr Ashok Sonule, leader of another BDTA faction, with chief secretary Johny Joseph in January 2008. The chief secretary forwarded the complaint to VR Patil, legal adviser, law and judiciary department, and sought a detailed report.  

Patil told DNA on Monday that despite several letters, the various BDTA factions and the charity commissioner's office had failed to submit the records needed for him to conduct his inquiry. “I am handicapped in the absence of official records,” Patil said. He even requested DNA to hand over to him the various articles published on the issue.

Joint charity commissioner YN Deshmukh, however, denied having received any communication from Patil or the state government. “We only report to the high court and not the state government,” he told DNA for good measure.

Deshmukh said he had no idea what had happened before he took over. “During my tenure I have not signed a single order on applications filed by various BDTA factions,” he said.