THE ANNEXATION OF INDIAN ASSETS THRU TECHNICALITIES By SONIA GANDHI--Written by ARUN SHOURIE

 

The Annexation of Indian Assests Through  Technicalities----

 by Arun Shourie 

The day I entered Indiraji' s household I became an Indian, 

the rest is just technical -- that is Sonia Gandhi's latest explanation 

for not having acquired Indian citizenship till fourteen years after her 

marriage to Rajiv Gandhi. 

Sonia married Rajiv on 25 February, 1968 Under section 5(c) 

of the Indian Citizenship Act she became eligible to register herself 

as a citizen of India on 25 February, 1973.   She chose to continue

 as a citizen of Italy. She applied for Indian citizenship only ten years 

later, on 7 April, 1983. 

         

A foreigner seeking Indian citizenship has to state on oath that he or 

she has relinquished his or her citizenship of the original country. 

This requirement was all the more necessary in the case of an Italian 

citizen:under Italian law, an Italian taking citizenship of another country 

continues to retain his or her Italian citizenship. Sonia Gandhi's application 

did not have the requisite statement, nor did it have an official document

 from the appropriate authorities in Italy. The omission was made up in 

a curious way: the Ambassador of Italy stepped in, and wrote to the 

Government saying that Sonia Gandhi had indeed given up her 

citizenship of Italy. He did so on 27 April, 1983. Sonia got her

 citizenship forthwith -- on 30 April, 1983. 

         

Another nugget Surya Prakash has unearthed is that while Sonia 

became a citizen on 30 April, 1983, her name made its 

way to the electoral rolls as of 1 January, 1980! In response to an 

objection, it had to be deleted in late 1982. But sure enough,

 it was put back on the electoral roll as of 1 January, 1983. She 

hadn't even applied for citizenship till then. All technicalities! If any 

ordinary person were 

to proceed in the same way, he would be 

up for stern prosecution. 

         

Maruti was one of the most odious scandals connected with Mrs Indira 

Gandhi and her family. The Commission of Inquiry headed by 

Justice As Gupta recorded that, though she was at the time a foreigner, 

Sonia Gandhi secured shares in two of their family concerns: Maruti 

Technical Services Pvt. Ltd. (in 1970 and again in 1974), and Maruti 

Heavy Vehicles (in 1974). The acquisition of these shares was in 

contravention of the very Act that Mrs Gandhi used to such 

diabolic effect in persecuting her political opponents, the Foreign 

Exchange Regulation Act, 1973. Just another technicality! But the Mother

 of Technicalities, so to say, is to be found in the way Sonia Gandhi, 

without having any known sources of income, has become the 

controller of one of the largest empires of property and patronage

 in Delhi. The Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Library and Museum is one

 of the principal institutions for research on contemporary Indian history. 

It is situated in and controls real estate which, because of its historical 

importance, cannot even be valued. The institution runs entirely on grants 

from the Government of India. Sonia Gandhi has absolutely 

no qualification that could by any stretch of imagination entitle her 

to head the 

institution: has she secured even an elementary 

university degree, to say nothing of having done anything 

that would even suggest some specialization in subjects which the

 institution has been set up to study. But by mysterious technicalities

 she is today the head of this institution. So much so that she even 

decides which scholar may have access to papers -- even official papers

 -- of Pandit Nehru and 

others of that family, including, if I may stretch 

the term, Lady Mountbatten. Real estate, only slightly less valuable, 

has been acquired on Raisina Road. The land was meant to house 

offices of the Congress. A large, ultra-modern building was built -- 

the finance being provided by another bunch of technical devices which 

remain a mystery. The building had but to get completed, and Sonia 

appropriated it for the other Foundation she completely controls -- 

the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation. The Congress(I) did not just oblige by 

keeping silent about the takeover of its building, in the very first 

budget its Government presented upon returning to power, it provided

 Rs 100 crores to this Foundation. The 

furor that give-away 

caused was so great that the largesse had to be canceled. 

No problem. Business house after business house, even 

public sector enterprises incurring huge losses, coughed up crores. 

            The Foundation has performed two principal functions. 

The projection of Sonia Gandhi. And enticing an array of leaders, 

intellectuals, journalists etc. into nets of patronage and pelf. But the 

audacity with which the land and building were usurped and funds raised 

for this Foundation falls into the second order of smalls when they 

are set alongside what has been done in regard to the Indira Gandhi 

National Centre for Arts. 

           

This Centre was set up as a trust in 1987 by a resolution of the

 Cabinet. The Government of India gave Rs. 50 crores out of the 

Consolidated Fund of India as a corpus fund to this Centre. It 

transferred 23 acres of land along what is surely one of the 

costliest sites in the world --Central Vista, the stretch that runs 

between Rashtrapati Bhavan and India Gate -- to this Trust. 

Furthermore, it granted another Rs. 84 

crores for the Trust to 

construct its building. 

          

The land was government land. The funds were government funds. 

Accordingly, care was taken to ensure that the Trust would remain 

under the overall control of the Government of India. Therefore, the 

Deed of the Trust provided, inter alia, Every ten years two-thirds 

of the trustees would retire. One half of the vacancies caused 

would be filled by the Government. One half would be filled by 

nominations made by the retiring trustees. 

          

The Member Secretary of the Trust would be nominated by the 

Government on such terms and conditions as the Government 

may decide. The President of India would appoint a committee from 

time to time to review the working of the Trust, and the recommendations

 of the committee would be binding on the Trust. No changes would 

be made in the deed of the Trust except by prior written sanction 

of the Government, and even then the changes may be adopted

 only by three-quarters of the Trustees agreeing to them at a meeting

 specially 

convened for the purpose. 

          

Now, just see what technical wonders were performed one fine

 afternoon. A meeting like any other meeting of the trustees was 

convened on 18 May, 1995. The minutes of this meeting which I have 

before me list all the subjects which were discussed -- the minutes 

were circulated officially by Dr Kapila Vatsyayan in her capacity 

as the Director of the Centre with the observation, "The Minutes of 

this meeting have been approved by Smt Sonia Gandhi, 

President of the IGNCA Trust." What did the assembled 

personages discuss and approve? Even if the topics seem 

mundane, do read them carefully for they contain a vital clue, 

the Sherlock Holmes clue so to say, about what did not happen. 

        

The minutes report that the following subjects were discussed: 

               1: Indira Gandhi Memorial Fellowship Scheme and the 

Research Grant Scheme. 

              

2: Commemoration volume in the memory of Stella Kramrisch. 

              

3: Sale of publications of the IGNCA. 

              

4: Manuscripts on music and dance belonging to the former ruling house 

of Raigarh in M P 

              

5: Report on the 10th and 11th meetings of the Executive Committee. 

              

6: Approval and adoption of the Annual Report and Annual Accounts, 1993-94. 

              

7: Bilateral and multilateral programmes of IGNCA, and aid from U N 

agencies, Ford            Foundation, Japan Foundation, etc. 

              

8: Brief report on implementation of programmes from April 1994 to

 March 1995. 

               9: Brief of initiatives taken by IGNCA to strengthen dialogue 

between Indian and Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, China. 

            

10: Documentation of cultural heritage of Indo-Christian, Indo-Islamic 

and Indo-Zoroastrian communities. 

            

11: Gita Govinda project. 

            

12: IGNCA newsletter. 

            

13: Annual Action Plan, 1995-96. 

            

14: Calendar of events. 15: Publications of IGNCA. 

            

15: Matters relating to building project. 

            

16: Allocations/ release of funds for the IGNCA building project. 

There is not one word in the minutes that the deed of the Trust 

was even mentioned. 

            

This meeting took place on 18 May, 1995. On 30 May, 1995 

Sonia Gandhi performed one of technical miracles. She wrote

 a letter to the Minister of Human Resources informing him of what

 she said were alterations in the Trust Deed which the trustees had

 unanimously approved. Pronto, the 

Minister wrote back, on 2 June, 1995: "I have great pleasure in 

communicating to you the Government of India's approval to the

 alterations. "The Minister? The ever-helpful, Madhav Rao Scindia. 

And wonder of wonders, in his other capacity he had attended 

the meeting on 18 May as a trustee of the IGNCA, the meeting 

which had not, according to the minutes approved by Sonia Gandhi, 

even discussed, far less "unanimously approved" changes in the 

Trust Deed. And what were the changes that Sonia Gandhi managed

 to get through by this collusive exchange of two letters? She became 

President for life. The other trustees -- two-thirds of whom were to 

retire every ten years -- became trustees for life. The power She 

became President for life. The other trustees -- two-thirds of whom 

were to retire every ten years -- became trustees for life. The power

 of the Government to fill half the vacancies was snuffed out. The power

 of the Government to appoint the 

Member Secretary of the Trust

 was snuffed out; henceforth the Trust would appoint its own 

Member Secretary. 

Power of the President of India to appoint a committee to periodically

 review the functioning of the Trust was snuffed out; neither he nor 

Government would have any power to inquire into the working of the Trust. 

          

A Government Trust, a Trust which had received over Rs. 134 crores 

of the tax-payers&# 39; money, a Trust which had received twenty 

three acres of invaluable land was, by a simple collusive exchange of a 

letter each between Sonia Gandhi and one of her gilded attendants

became property within her total control. The usurpation was an 

absolute fraud. The Trust Deed itself provided that no amendment 

to it could come into force -- on any reasonable reading could not

 even be initiated and adopted -- without prior written permission

 of the Government. Far from any permission being taken, even 

information to the effect that changes were being contemplated was 

not sent to Government. 

           

An ex post "approval" ; was obtained from an obliging trustee.

That "approval" ; was in itself wholly without warrant. Such 

sanctions are governed by Rule 4 of the Government of India 

(Transaction of Business) Rules, 1961. This Rule prescribes that

 when a subject 

concerns more than one department, 

"no order be issued until all such departments have concurred, 

or failing such concurrence, a 

decision thereon has been taken by or under the authority of 

the Cabinet." Other departments were manifestly concerned, 

concurrence from them was not even sought. The Cabinet 

was never apprised. 

            

The rule proceeds to provide, "Unless the case is fully 

covered by powers to sanction expenditure or to appropriate or 

re-appropriate funds, conferred by any general or special orders

 made by the Ministry of Finance, no department shall, without 

the previous concurrence of the Ministry of Finance, issue any 

orders which may... (b) involve any grant of land or assignment 

of revenue or concession, grant... (d) 

otherwise have a financial 

bearing whether involving expenditure 

or not..." 

            

And yet, just as concurrence of other departments had been 

dispensed with, no approval was taken from the Finance Ministry. 

The Indian Express and other papers published details about the 

fraud by which what was a Government Trust had been 

converted into a private fief. Two members of Parliament -- 

Justice Ghuman Mal Lodha and Mr. E. Balanandan -- began 

seeking details, and raising objections. 

            

For a full two and a half years, governments -- of the Congress(I), 

and the two that were kept alive by the Congress(I), those of 

Mr. Deve Gowda and of Mr. I. K. Gujral -- made sure that full facts 

would not be disclosed to the MPs, and that the concerned file would 

keep shuttling 

between the Ministry of Human Resource 

Development and the Ministry of Law. As a result, Sonia 

Gandhi continues to have complete control over governmental

 assets of incalculable value -- through technicalities collusively 

arranged. A latter-day Dalhousie -- annexation of Indian principalities

 through   technicalities!

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