'Non-official probe into Golf Club incident counterproductive'

A non-official inquiry to probe the Delhi Golf Club incident will be counterproductive, said the employer of a Meghalaya woman who had alleged that she had been turfed out of the club because her traditional Khasi attire looked like a "maid's uniform" to the staffers.

Yesterday, the Delhi Golf Club had announced the constitution of a three-member panel headed by Justice (retired) Mukul Mudgal, comprising lawyer Renu Sehgal and journalist Sunayana Arora Singh, the CEO and founder of an NGO, Organ India.

However, Nivedita Barthakur Sondhi, whose son's governess Tailin Lyngdoh was asked to leave a lunch hosted by a member of the club in the heart of the capital on June 25, said that the inquiry will serve no "constructive purpose".

"We think that any such inquiry by a non-official committee would be counter-productive and disrespectful to the due process that has been or will be initiated by governmental and quasi-judicial bodies under law," Sondhi said in a statement.

She said they have submitted a statement giving an account of the incident on June 25 to Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju.

"We have already sent a statement giving our account of the said events to the minister. We will continue to co- operate with all governmental and quasi-judicial agencies in aiding the completion of the inquiry into this incident," she added.

Lyngdoh, who was wearing a 'jainsem', had alleged that the manager of the club had informed her that the ethnic outfit she wore was not allowed in the club.

Rijiju had called the incident a "case of racial discrimination" and asked the city police chief to take appropriate action on it.

The Union urban development ministry also sought a report from the club on the issue.

The Delhi Golf Club had earlier said it had apologised to the member who had invited Lyngdoh and her employer to lunch but added that Lyngdoh had not been asked to leave the club.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)