Threats to the Residents of DPS Housing Society
Subject: Mismanagement in DPS Co-op. Group Housing Society, Dwarka, Sector 4, New Delhi 110 078
May 7, 2015
Dear Government,
Please let me introduce myself as a government award-winning journalist. Besides working at senior editorial positions with India’s leading media companies, I had been writing an edit-page column for The Financial Express newspaper. Nowadays, I’m running my own global news services on different subjects.
I am writing you this letter to request for your intervention as some members (residents including me) of the DPS Housing Society in Dwarka, New Delhi, are repeatedly being threatened and harassed by the Managing Committee (MC) of the Society.
The innocent people – including even women and senior citizens – are being threatened and intimidated by the MC members because they have tried to raise their voice against the misdeeds and improper activities of the MC members.
Now the MC members (their names given below) are not only using abusive language against the residents who oppose them in a civilized manner, but they have also threatened to use brute force against them if they tried to raise their voice against the irregular activities of the MC.
In the MC letter dated April 15 signed by MC’s Hony Secretary Geeta Gautam and put on the notice board on May 3, the MC has threatened the residents by saying, “As seen in our Lok Sabha, we need to have some MARSHALS to take those unruly members out of the proceedings.”
With such remarks the MC has not only insulted the Lok Sabha, which is the temple of our democracy, but also abused human rights of people who opposed them in a peaceful way. Moreover, with their arrogance, the MC members are killing the cooperative culture in the country and attacking the citizens’ right of freedom of expression and speech. Thus, the MC members are committing a cognizable offence.
Residents are being called unruly because they openly opposed MC’s free-wheeling style of working. There are plenty of other objectionable statements such as “tough handling,” “malicious intentions,” that the MC has used in this letter and the other letters that it has circulated to intimidate the residents. In these letters, MC has used even vulgar language such as “value system, etc.” to assassinate the character of the members who oppose their questionable decisions.
But the MC has quite conveniently ignored the main issues raised by the residents asking the MC to hold General Body Meetings in a formal way and to follow transparent financial processes. The MC has not answered even the specific queries (mentioned in the attached documents toward the end of this page) raised by the residents regarding the unauthorized financial transactions that the MC has made while flouting the expenditure norms that it is supposed to follow.
Rather, the MC members preferred to use threatening language and vague statements to frighten the opposing residents and to digress from the main issues of overall mismanagement of the Society affairs.
And now because of MC members’ repeated threats including threats to take legal action against the residents, most residents are so terrorized that they have stopped opposing them. Therefore, I am raising my voice alone, although I have been threatened separately by a MC member asking me to let the MC work the way it wants and I should not oppose it. And if I didn’t follow their advice I will have to face the consequences, I was told.
The honest members of the DPS Housing Society have only been requesting the MC members through jointly signed representations (attached below) to follow honest and transparent financial processes and stop pursuing any major construction to add more rooms, etc. in the building. The residents have told the MC that the planned construction is not only illegal but its dust / noise pollution will also cause huge health risks and disturbance to the people (men, women, children, sick, and elderly residents) who are living in the building.
In this regard, please read my recent letter to the Prime Minister (PM) of India informing him about the hazards of construction. Residents from DPS Housing Society as well as other housing societies from Dwarka are supporting me in this cause. Click here to read the letter to the PM.
However, the MC members of DPS Housing Society are imposing their decisions on residents who are opposed to construction, forcing them to even sign “No Objection Certificates” to accept construction because MC members’ eyes are on this project which will be worth crores of rupees. It not only amounts to highhandedness by the MC, but it will also have cost implications on people including retired and senior citizens who cannot afford such building extensions.
However, the MC members are hell-bent to carry out the disturbing construction project and have decided to continue with the shady processes to run the Society affairs, saying the majority of people are supporting them and they will not listen to the “minority” that is opposing them.
Strange but true. The MC members fail to understand a simple fact that a wrongdoer or offender can be convicted even if one person complains against them. Majority is not required to get the culprit caught. The MC members need to be asked if they would attempt a murder or a robbery if majority asks them to do so.
As MC members are threatening the residents, using their money in a shady manner, and violating their human rights, these are equally heinous crimes for which not only the MC members but also the people who are supporting them in the DPS Housing Society must be identified and dealt with strictly according to various sections of our Civil / Criminal law. The law says that people who support a criminal activity are also criminals.
Moreover, as India’s constitutional provision assures the citizens of the country right to a healthy environment, no construction activity will be legal in the DPS Housing Society as it will cause poisonous dust / noise pollution, even if it is supported by majority of residents – most of whom are totally ignorant of law.
As a crime committed in ignorance is also a crime, all the MC members as well as the residents supporting them must be considered part of this illegal racket which is being conspired to disturb the peace and tranquility of a group housing society and people living there.
All these people (MC members and others who are supporting them) have formed a kind of gang, as MC has been allowing them for wrongdoings, such as multiple car parking inside the Society building where it has become almost impossible to walk and late-night noisy parties. Now this gang of neo-rich is planning additional construction in the Society building as they are eying more money for their flats besides other covert benefits.
Given the situation, the members in this unruly group must also be identified separately to know the cases of their assets disproportionate to their known sources of income.
Before I proceed further, I want to inform you that mismanagement and misappropriation of funds is so rampant in the DPS Housing Society that I had to raise this issue a few years ago with various government departments. On my requests, the government had taken action.
And now the past MC members of the DPS Housing Society are facing an inquiry initiated by the Registrar Co-op. Societies (RCS) under the directions of Delhi Government’s Vigilance Department and the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) of the Government of India.
As the new members of the MC that was formed in November 2014 have taken complete charge from the previous MC, the new MC members are now equally responsible for the past questionable acts of the previous MC. So, now the government inquiry should target the past as well as new MC members (their names given below).
The Public Grievance Commission (PGC) of the Delhi Government has also been repeatedly sending reminders to the Office of RCS to complete the said inquiry against the MC members. Out of many such letters from PGC, one is attached here for your reference.
Since this inquiry was getting delayed, I had written to Delhi’s Department of Lokayukta in February 2015, and the office of Lokayukta has emailed me saying that the entire case will be put up before the new Lokayukta as soon as he or she is appointed.
The cover page of the government inquiry letter is attached here.
These MC members are not only arrogant, but they are also incompetent to handle the Society’s affairs, though they claim they have plenty of experience. Their incompetence is manifested in a number of cases. For example, the MC members admit that they cannot streamline the currently haphazard car parking for the residents. They admit that they cannot maintain the parks in the Society building.
The MC members also admit that they cannot control the residents who have disturbing dogs in the Society. They admit that they cannot get a huge number of junk vehicles removed from the building. They admit that they cannot make transparent purchase processes. They admit that they cannot create a Website of the DPS Housing Society to make all processes available on the Website in a transparent manner.
To hide their incompetence, the MC members are trying to throw all these responsibilities on other residents who want to stay away from the murky deals in which the MC members have pushed the DPS Housing Society.
With their apparent incompetence, can these MC members handle residents’ money efficiently? And can they handle the construction project worth crores of rupees that they are pursuing secretly? And should such incompetent MC members be allowed to continue in the Society office? All this needs to be inquired thoroughly by the government and law-enforcement agencies.
I can coordinate with the government-constituted inquiry committee to reveal the cases where misappropriation of funds have taken place in the Society and the MC has failed to follow right purchase procedures and the procedure for selection of vendors.
As the MC has been using my money, I have full right to know how my money is being spent and if proper procedures are being followed. And if the MC members feel disturbed by the difficult questions asked to them about the internal processes and expenditure norms, they should not be in the MC.
To know the whole truth behind the case for yourself, you may please study the residents’ repeated representations requesting the MC members to work in an honest and transparent manner. These representations are available in the following attached documents and also at the Webpage under this link.
1. Residents’ letter dated March 31, 2015 highlighting the threats they received from the MC. Click here to read the letter.
2. A 10-point proposal dated March 5, 2015 submitted by the residents to the MC to run the Society affairs smoothly – and honestly. Click here to read the letter.
3. A 4-page letter dated January 27, 2015 submitted by the residents to the MC – suggesting many ways to improve the functioning in the Society. Click here to read the letter.
You also can see the MC members’ callous response which is full of threats. It is attached here.
Latest Updates:
As the office of the Registrar Co-operative Societies (RCS) is acting hand in glove with the erring MCs of DPS Co-operative Group Housing Society, RCS office is ignoring all government norms with the aim to hush up this case. RCS also failed to submit an action taken report to the Public Grievances Commission (PGC) in a hearing on July 13. Now, the Chairman (PGC) has issued a censure letter to Smt. Alka Diwan, Registrar Co-operative Societies, to submit the action taken report at the next hearing scheduled for September 15, 2015. Click here to read the PGC letter.
Letter dated 20.5.2015 from the Registrar Co-op. Societies (RCS) of Delhi Government to the MC of DPS Housing Society, asking for MC’s reply within 7 days. RCS response is awaited. Click here to read the letter.
Letter dated 21.5.15 from the Public Grievances Commission (PGC) of Delhi Government to Registrar Co-op. Societies (RCS) to submit an Action Taken Report (ATR) in a hearing scheduled for 13.07.2015. PGC / RCS response is awaited. Click here to read the letter.
My response dated 12.08.2015 to a disturbing letter sent to me by the Managing Committee (MC) of the DPS Group Housing Society. Click here to read the letter.
Now I request the government for the following:
1. Initiate a formal and legal inquiry against the present and past MC members of DPS Housing Society.
2. During the period of inquiry, the present MC must be suspended and government should take control of the Society’s operations in its own hands. This action is also required to stop MC members’ threats to residents.
3. The financial inquiry against the present and past MC members can be conducted using the special audit provision as prescribed in the Delhi Co-operative Societies rules. The inquiry should also find out if there was any role of the external auditors in preparing faulty financial reports.
4. The inquiry under the Delhi Co-operative Societies rules will also reveal the truth whether or not the present and past MCs were holding the General Body Meetings as per the rules.
5. As the charges against the MC members include the misappropriation of public money, the government must hold an investigation into the personal movable and immovable assets of the present and previous MC members and their close relatives to know the cases of assets disproportionate to their known sources of income. This should also include the attachment of MC members’ property and sealing of their bank accounts. If found guilty, they must be punished according to the law and their property and cash must be forfeited by the government as a punishment to them.
6. It’s not only the MC members, but as stated above the coterie of residents who are supporting the illegal activities of MC members should also be punished because they are part of the racket and acting as accomplices in the MC members’ wrongdoings.
7. As I am taking up the case to uncover the corrupt practices of the MC members, I fear a physical and / or socio-economic attack on me and / or my profession by the MC members. Therefore, I request the government to give me sufficient protection so that I could move freely without any fear.
8. Similarly, as the innocent residents are deeply scared by the terror of MC members and their threats, I request the government to give these residents sufficient police protection and register a case against the MC members and others in the DPS Housing Society and outsiders who are supporting the MC members.
9. For this, the government can depute a couple of policemen who should always be available in the building of DPS Housing Society in Dwarka.
10. I request for an early action so as to find the truth, catch the culprits, and give them the severest possible punishment.
In general, I request the government to completely revamp and restructure the system of managing the cooperative group housing societies, as the present system is totally flawed and corrupted.
Thanking you
463, DPS Apts., Plot No. 16
Sector 4, Dwarka, Phase I
New Delhi 110 078, INDIA
Present MC Members of DPS Housing Society:
1. President: Col M.M. Shukla (Retd.)
2. Vice Presidents: Neeraj Kumar Vaish
3. Member: Geeta Gautam
4. Member: Leela Swami
5. Member: R.K. Saggi
6. Member: H.L. Kaul
7. Member: K.L. Narayanan
Past MC Members of DPS Housing Society against whom the Government inquiry has been initiated:
1. President: R. Balasubramanian
2. Vice President: K.V. Varghese
3. Secretary: Neeraj Kumar Vaish
4. Treasurer: Sandeep Taneja
5. Member: Leela Swami
6. Member: Manjit Kaur
7. Member: Gaurav Kumar Sood
Important Note: In case any physical, social, economic, etc. harm happens to me, the present and past MC members whose names are given above may be responsible; so they should be questioned thoroughly by the law enforcement agencies.
Please stay tuned. I will keep updating this page as the case progresses.