IAS Officer in Delhi Govt Faces Vigilance Inquiry in DPS CGHS Corruption Case

DPS Cooperative Group Housing Society (DPS CGHS or DPS Housing Society), Plot No. 16, Sector 4, Dwarka, Phase I, New Delhi 110 078.

This report is about one of the most corrupt departments of Delhi Government and perhaps the most corrupt cooperative group housing society of Delhi.

By Rakesh Raman

I had filed a formal complaint against the following:

1. Registrar Cooperative Societies (RCS) of the Delhi Government – J.B.Singh (IAS) and other officials of RCS office who failed to take action in the DPS CGHS corruption case
2. Past and present managing committee (MC) members of DPS CGHS and their accomplices

Progress in the Case

• With its letter dated 19.6.2018 (given below), the Directorate of Vigilance (DOV) – which is the top department that conducts inquiries in corruption cases – of Delhi Government has informed me that it has planned to start the inquiry against Mr. J.B. Singh, IAS and other officials of RCS office regarding corruption (in DPS CGHS case).

• In my letter dated July 2, 2018, I have requested DOV to publicly put on DOV website each and every step of the planned inquiry, names of the RCS officials who are facing this inquiry, names of investigation team members, all their verbal and written communications, and outcome of the inquiry at each step. A closed-door investigation will be meaningless.

• Similarly, on July 2, 2018, the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) informed me that a complaint in this case has been registered against Mr. J.B. Singh, IAS and the case is under process.

• As I had also complained against the corruption of Delhi Development Authority (DDA) officials, DDA has informed me that an inquiry under CVC directions has already been initiated against the officials responsible for corruption in Delhi group housing societies, including DPS CGHS. I am in the process of making a new case against DDA officials as some more incidents of corruption have happened recently.

Important: This report also includes 16 different exhibits (given at the bottom of this report) from official / government records which clearly show that rampant corruption and criminal activities have been happening at DPS CGHS. But the law-enforcement agencies have failed to arrest and interrogate any person involved in the crimes.  

Highlights of the Case

• The Registrar Cooperative Societies (RCS) of the Delhi Government – J.B.Singh, IAS – has surreptitiously scuttled a corruption inquiry against the managing committee (MC) members of DPS CGHS. Obviously, it is a case of connivance and the possibility of bribe to RCS by the accused DPS CGHS MC members cannot be ruled out.

• While corruption and other unlawful activities have been happening at DPS CGHS for the past more than a decade, the MC members in successive MCs have been protecting each other under a tacit, unscrupulous arrangement in connivance with the RCS.

• When the current MC members were issued ostentatious inspection notices by the RCS office a few months ago, the current MC members admitted in writing that corruption and fraud have been happening in DPS CGHS.

• The current MC members are responsible for massive corruption and fraud under their own term, and they never tried to get the past corruption probed because there seems to be a clandestine arrangement between the present and past MC members to protect each other in the illegal enterprise.

• Despite documented cases of corruption and admission of corruption and fraud by the MC members in the Society’s own records, strangely the RCS has not yet indicted or punished any of the MC members.

• Now, the current MC members – against whom the RCS inquiry has been initiated to know the extent of “financial and other irregularities” – are trying to obstruct the inquiry by hook or by crook.

• Unfortunately, RCS office is colluding with the current MC members to scuttle the inquiry ordered by its own office. The RCS office has also dishonestly dumped another inquiry directed by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) against the DPS CGHS MC members.

• As this is a case of white-collar crime, only the circumstantial evidence in terms of non-compliance of different statutes should be enough to nab the culprits at RCS office and DPS CGHS as well as their internal and external accomplices such as fraudulent firms and rogue residents.

• As an ordinary resident member, journalist, and social activist, I have approached different government departments and top law-enforcement agencies, urging them to investigate this extreme case of lawlessness at DPS CGHS.

• Responding positively to my representations, departments such as India’s top anti-corruption organization Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Directorate of Vigilance, Office of the Labour Commissioner, Home (Police) Department, Law Department, and the Labour Ministry of Delhi Government have intervened to catch and punish the culprits at DPS CGHS.

• In order to thwart my anti-corruption efforts, during the past couple of years the DPS Housing Society MC members have sent multiple threats to me. These include false police complaints against me, threats of physical harm to me, expulsion notices, legal notices, and slanderous attacks on my social as well as professional status.

• Ironically, the current DPS CGHS MC members – whose names appear as accused in a number of government records like history-sheeters – have sent me a flurry of hollow, ‘copy-paste’ legal notices claiming that I have defamed them. This is the height of absurdity and their action is laughable. Instead of facing the government inquiries honestly and getting their names cleared from government records, they are trying to threaten me with legal notices saying that I should stop writing about their corruption in my news articles.

• The DPS CGHS MC members are behaving like ganglords who are using the frivolous legal notices and false police complaints against me as threat weapons to silence me and suppress my voice.

• I am not deterred and I will keep fighting truthfully against their crimes and corruption to get the culprits arrested and imprisoned.

Corruption Inquiry in DPS CGHS

As there have been a number of cases of corruption and illegal activities at the DPS CGHS, the office of the Registrar Cooperative Societies (RCS) of the Delhi Government had ordered an inquiry under Section 61 of the DCS Act, 2003 to investigate the “financial and other irregularities” at DPS CGHS.

The inquiry – ordered in January 2018 by RCS office – was in response to a legal complaint filed last year by a group of DPS CGHS members who had demanded the removal of the current MC because of its financial irregularities and other criminal activities.

Moreover, in September 2017, I had sent a detailed report on DPS CGHS corruption to J.B. Singh, Registrar Cooperative Societies (RCS) and earlier to his predecessor Shurbir Singh. The report included specific cases of corruption, names of people, and document references with dates. I had sent the same report to CVC.

Consequently, with its letter dated January 25, 2018, the RCS office had ordered the inquiry under Section 61 of the DCS Act, 2003 to investigate the “financial and other irregularities” at DPS CGHS.

The inquiry is supposed to cover the entire period of the Society’s existence as the Society records show financial misappropriation and misuse of authority by the successive managing committees (MCs) that prevailed right from its inception till today.

The total amount lost in corruption (that is still continuing under the present MC members) is crores of rupees and names of more than 20 people including MC members appear in official records that show financial and other irregularities.

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Clean House Social Service

Today, millions of common residents in Delhi are victims of the terror unleashed by the corrupt managing committee (MC) members of different cooperative group housing societies.

In order to help the suffering residents raise their voice against the growing corruption and injustice in housing societies, I have been running a community-driven free online social service under the banner “Clean House”.

It works as an interface to inform the government departments and law-enforcement agencies in India and abroad about the cases of corruption and other criminal activities happening in housing societies.

If you want “Clean House” to report about the corruption and illegal activities in your housing society, you may please contact me with relevant documents and details.

Click here to visit Clean House.

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The present MC members have admitted that corruption / fraud has been happening at DPS CGHS. But in order to save their own skin, the present MC members are trying to obstruct the inquiry deceptively by putting the blame on previous MCs.

According to a letter dated January 14, 2018, the DPS CGHS MC had cleverly constituted a sub-committee of some ordinary residents to investigate an old “case of fraud” involving Rs. 55 lakh.

The letter states that the General Body approved the suggestion of a resident Dilip Rozekar, and Vipul Khullar, Ravinder Sharma, and Madhukar Akhilesh volunteered to be the part of this sub-committee.

Along with a number of old MC members who are allegedly involved in the said fraud, the names of two external vendors (M/s. Builtwell and M/s. Reliable Transmission) have been mentioned in the MC’s letter.

It is surprising to note that instead of allowing the comprehensive probe planned by the RCS office into the financial irregularities of the DPS CGHS, these four residents / members (Dilip Rozekar, Vipul Khullar, Ravinder Sharma, and Madhukar Akhilesh) are interested only in one case of corruption worth Rs. 55 lakh which is also supposed to be covered in the RCS inquiry. This sub-committee that was supposed to investigate corruption at DPS CGHS has not released its findings, although about six months have elapsed since its formation.

The investigation agencies must question these residents / members about their competence to hold such a financial inquiry as well as their motivation and links with the MC members to cover up the inquiry already planned by the RCS office.

The formation of this perfunctory sub-committee is a cover-up attempt by the MC to deceive the Society members as well as authorities while the total corruption amount is not just Rs. 55 lakh that is stated in MC’s letter.

Rather, the estimated amount of money lost in corruption is crores of rupees while corruption has been persisting in DPS CGHS for at least 15 years and it is happening even today under the current MC.

Collusion of RCS Office with DPS CGHS MC

I have separately submitted the details, document references, and dates of corruption cases at DPS CGHS in the RCS office, CVC office, and other law-enforcement agencies.

Since the RCS office has not removed the present MC members from office despite their visible corruption, they are still misusing their authority to thwart the investigation in order to continue their corrupt practices.

With its letter dated 12.04.2018 (Subject: Chronic Corruption case of DPS CGHS), the RCS office informed me that DPS CGHS has filed an appeal under Section 115 (1) of DCS Act, 2003 against the inspection ordered by the RCS office under Section 61 of DCS Act, 2003 at DPS CGHS.

In response to RCS letter, on May 7, 2018 I asked Registrar J.B.Singh to start the pending investigation because the appeal filed by DPS CGHS MC amounts to defiance of law and obstruction of justice as the DPS CGHS MC is refusing to show its improper records to the competent authority such as the RCS office. Also, the MC’s attempt to oppose the RCS inquiry is an admission of guilt as the MC members want to conceal their criminality.

As the inquiry was getting inordinately delayed, I sent another mail on June 6, 2018 to Registrar J.B.Singh saying if the RCS failed to dismiss the DPS CGHS MC and start the inquiry by June 8, 2018, I will approach the higher authorities and law-enforcement agencies against all the concerned RCS officials in order to seek relief under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Since the Registrar J.B.Singh is not following the official rules and ignoring his official responsibilities in order to secretly give undue benefit to the accused MC members of DPS CGHS, it is a clear case of corruption. Plus, the bureaucratic inefficiency of J.B.Singh and his staff is also a form of corruption.

According to the Vigilance Manual 2017 of India’s top anti-corruption organization Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), corruption is manifested in various forms such as bribery, nepotism, willful action or willful inaction to benefit someone or to deny benefit to someone known or unknown.

It also states that corruption includes cases of favoritism and failure to follow laid down processes leading to unintended benefit to someone or denial of benefit to the deserving.

Going by this definition of corruption, the CVC and other law-enforcement agencies such as Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) must initiate inquiries against Registrar J.B.Singh and other RCS officials. Government and law-enforcement agencies must also direct the RCS to take stern actions against the corrupt MC members and others who operate in this housing societies racket.

It is strange to note that the Registrar has decided to delay / scuttle the corruption inquiry ordered by his own office against the accused DPS CGHS MC members who are controlling public money worth crores of rupees in a totally shady, opaque manner.  

An appeal by the accused MC members cannot – and must not – stop the RCS office from starting and completing the inquiry because the alleged fraud involves public money – including my own money as a member of the DPS CGHS. As an analogy, if a group of thieves appeals the police to spare them, police won’t entertain thieves’ appeal. The corruption case at RCS office against DPS CGHS MC members cannot close simply because they have filed an appeal.

The delay in starting the inquiry manifests the fact that the Registrar as head of the department and other concerned RCS officials are working under the undue influence of the accused MC members of DPS CGHS.

As the money under the said investigation is crores of rupees, the possibility of bribe to RCS by the DPS CGHS MC members cannot be ruled out. It is more plausible because the present Registrar J.B. Singh and his predecessor Shurbir Singh have been the target of a Delhi Assembly Committee probe for an alleged Rs. 100-crore scam in Delhi Nagrik Sehkari Bank.

Most would know that the RCS office has a long history of corruption and reportedly many of its officers have been caught even by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in corruption cases. You can read about Case 1 and also Case 2 and a recent case that is being investigated.

Fraud Cases at RCS Office

It is not only the the DPS CGHS corruption inquiry that Registrar J.B. Singh has dumped dishonestly, but similar nefarious acts have been happening at an alarming frequency under J.B. Singh in many other cooperative group housing societies of Delhi.

For example, the members of Bhagwati CGHS Ltd. in Dwarka lament that the RCS office had ordered an inquiry into the financial fraud in their Society, but despite their repeated representations to the Registrar, the inquiry is not getting started.

Similarly, when the residents of R. D. Apartments in Dwarka failed to get relief from the RCS office in an illegal construction case in their Society, they were forced to go to the Delhi High Court in order to seek justice.

The RCS office – under J.B. Singh – is not only stopping the corruption inquiries ordered by its own office, but it has brazenly ignored the inquiries ordered even by CVC.

For example, the Directorate of Vigilance of Delhi Government – under CVC’s direction – had ordered the inquiry through the RCS against the MC of DPS CGHS. But the inquiry was stopped without giving any reason.

It is believed that the MC members of DPS CGHS influenced the RCS officials to get the inquiry scuttled unscrupulously. Bribery cannot be ruled out to get the inquiry stopped.

CVC Inquiry Letter References:

RCS: F.47/Coop./1350/GH/SW/2011/7051 dated 4.5.2011
Directorate of Vigilance: F.27/2/2011/DOV/1080 dated 15.2.2011 forwarded by CVC
CVC: O.M. No. 1716/10/8/104428 dated 01.10.2010 and O.M. No. 1716/10/8/117161 dated 24.01.2011

Thus, RCS office has become a symbol of corruption in Delhi and the corrupt MC members of housing societies are thriving under the illegal protection of RCS.

Unfortunately, the Delhi Government headed by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Lt. Governor (LG) Anil Baijal has also failed to check rampant corruption at RCS office and housing societies.

Both Kejriwal and Baijal are fully aware of RCS corruption but they have turned a blind eye to it. They keep sending people’s complaints from one office to another like a post office, but Kejriwal and Baijal never take administrative decisions.

Finally, the aggrieved citizens of Delhi are left with no other option but to approach the courts. But if courts have to do everything, why do we need Kejriwal and Baijal? The administrative system has totally collapsed in Delhi.

The RCS example shows that bureaucratic and political corruption has become a pain in the neck for commoners in India. A new “Freedom in the World 2017” report – released by Freedom House, a Washington-based independent watchdog organization – highlights rampant political and bureaucratic corruption in India. It reveals that corruption has a negative effect on government efficiency and economic performance.

“Though politicians and civil servants at all levels are regularly caught accepting bribes or engaging in other corrupt behavior, a great deal of corruption goes unnoticed and unpunished,” the report said in its findings.

Similarly, global anti-corruption organization Transparency International has lowered India’s rank from last year’s position of 79 to 81 this year. According to the Transparency data, India with a poor score of 40 is more corrupt than countries such as China, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Mauritius.

The sorry plight of people in Delhi indicates that India has already become a politically unstable banana republic with rampant lawlessness, corruption, and exploitation of the ordinary citizens. It is expected that soon India will formally appear in the list of banana republics such as Botswana, Guatemala, Nigeria, Zambia, and Cuba.

If the situation is not controlled immediately, it is expected that soon international sanctions will also be imposed on India because of government’s failure to stop increasing crime and corruption.

Evasion of Corruption Inquiry at DPS CGHS

The managing committee (MC) members of DPS CGHS are desperately trying to evade the inquiry ordered by the RCS office to investigate the “financial and other irregularities” that have been happening in the Society for years. The total money lost in corruption is estimated to be crores of rupees.

In order to avoid the corruption inquiry ordered by RCS office in January 2018, the accused MC members held a hurriedly called Special General Body Meeting (SGBM) on 18.02.2018 which was largely attended by a group of rogue members who are generally bribed by the MC members to get all illegal decisions approved. The fraudulent way in which elections and GBMs are held at DPS CGHS is another big scandal about which RCS office has been repeatedly informed. But as usual RCS office did not act against the MC members.

The desperation of MC members – who are facing a number of inquiries for illegal activities – is evident from the fact that they did not circulate the Minutes of the SGBM of 18.02.2018 among the Society members and directly sent totally false information to the RCS office about the SGBM with a malafide intention to scuttle the planned inquiry.

Although the MC members have indicated that the majority of members are not in favor of the inquiry, they failed to circulate among the Society members the list of members who were present in the SGBM of 18.02.2018 and the list of members who opposed or favored the inquiry. This is a total fraud and a criminal attempt to cheat the other Society members and deceive the RCS officials.

While this is a case of “financial and other irregularities” as stated in the RCS inquiry order, even one Society member can seek financial details as the MC members are controlling members’ money. Majority is not required to accept or stop the inquiry ordered by a competent judicial authority like the RCS office.

The attempt by the accused MC members to stop the RCS inquiry manifests that they want to hide something that can incriminate them. RCS office must not entertain their appeal to stop the inquiry.

While the MC members and other rogue members, who are acting as accomplices in crime, are trying to block the RCS inquiry, it is a case of obstruction of justice for which the MC members and their supporters must be prosecuted.

As they are refusing to reveal the details of financial misappropriation, the RCS office must also recommend for the judicial custody of the MC members of DPS CGHS and others who are supporting them.

In order to carry out the planned inquiry, the RCS office must immediately dismiss the DPS CGHS MC and appoint an administrator in the Society.

Although the inquiry is about their financial irregularities, astonishingly the accused MC members are still trying to cheat Society members by asking each of them to pay lakhs of rupees for an illegal construction project worth crores of rupees under a dubious floor area ratio (FAR) scheme.

While DPS CGHS MC members know that recently Delhi High Court has stopped FAR construction in a housing society because of its harmful pollution and other factors, the DPS CGHS MC members are still pursuing FAR construction because it will give them another opportunity to swindle public money. The estimated cost of the project is Rs. 15 crore.

The DPS CGHS MC members have also indicated that they will bribe the DDA officials through a fraudulently appointed architect firm for getting approvals for the illegal FAR construction.

As per the contract document dated July 16, 2017, the MC President Neeraj Vaish even agreed to pay a huge Rs. 8 lakh as “liasioning fee” (another term for bribe) to the architect firm for getting approvals from DDA and other authorities. One fails to understand if the MC’s project proposals / drawings are genuine and legal, why it is paying Rs. 8 lakh as liasioning fee for getting the statutory approvals.

As I had complained against the corruption of DDA officials, DDA has informed me that an inquiry under CVC directions has already been initiated against the officials responsible for corruption in Delhi group housing societies.

Corruption and Illegal Activities Under the Current DPS CGHS MC

Corruption and illegal activities under the current MC members: Neeraj Kumar Vaish, R. Balasubramanian, M.N. Sampathkumar, Ms. Leela Swami, Sandeep Taneja, Manguram Tyagi, Ms. Naseem Afshaque:

1. Fraudulent Appointment of Architect Firm: In order to cheat the residents and extort money from them for an illegal construction / repairs project worth about Rs. 15 crore, the current MC members hired an architect firm fraudulently without following any statutory purchase procedures. The firm was hired before releasing the advertisement for the contract. The same firm was paid “liasioning fee” (another name for bribe) worth lakhs of rupees to pay to DDA and other government departments for taking approvals. Click here for details.

2. Corruption in Car Parking: The Delhi High Court has ruled that only one car per flat will be allowed in housing society parking lots. But the DPS Housing Society MC has brazenly decided to ignore the court orders as well as the Society norms to allow about 40 members (out of a total of 90 members) to park multiple vehicles in the Society building.

On average, a car parking space covers about 100 sq. ft. and the price of one car parking space is an estimated Rs. 500,000. If the current MC has allowed 40 members to park their additional vehicles under a secret deal, the corruption money in this case is estimated to be Rs. 2 crore. Moreover, the accused MC members have put the lives of hundreds of residents to fire risk by allowing illegal car parking which is obstructing the movement of fire brigade.  Click here for details.

3. Corruption in Security Contract: The current MC members illegally terminated the services of a group of security guards who were employees in the Society. It is not only a case of labour rights violation and breach of contract, but also a case of extreme corruption. After terminating the jobs of Society’s security employees, the MC members hired new security guards through a private agency without GBM approvals and without following the financial process while the security contract is worth lakhs of rupees.

As it was difficult for the MC members to take bribes from the terminated security guards who were employees in the Society, they hired a private agency fraudulently. In order to hide their crime, the MC members are now showing some concocted documents suddenly inserted in the Society records about security guards’ case. The MC members are also threatening the terminated guards who have filed a case against them in the labour court. Click here for details.

4. Society Election Fraud: The current as well as previous MCs have been offering bribes to voting members in different forms to win elections and get voting support in GBMs to show their majority. The bribes include Society’s common space worth lakhs of rupees to allow illegal car parking to some members, permission for construction alterations in some flats to increase the value of flats, cash worth lakhs of rupees from Society funds to individual members for frivolous activities, and so on.

Thus, the MC members have formed a criminal gang with the help of these corrupt voting members, and together they show their false majority in GBMs, loot public money, and threaten members who oppose their criminal activities.

So, the elections and GBMs which are based on bribes have become a total fraud and the majority argument for any decision in GBMs is invalid and baseless at DPS Housing Society. Click here for details.

5. Corruption and Connivance: The current MC members were accepting the corruption of previous MCs without making any formal legal attempt to recover the money lost in corruption. As the total money lost in corruption at DPS CGHS is estimated to be crores of rupees (as shown in the MC’s own documents), there has been a criminal nexus between different MC members to protect each other while swindling public money. It appears that past and present MC members have been secretly sharing the booty and obstructing investigations. Click here for details.

6. Illegal Surveillance: Now, the DPS CGHS MC members are demanding money from residents for using a third-party security App. The App used by the security guards at the Society gate collects the personal information such as private data and photographs of visitors including women. This information of visitors is presumably sent to an external party which can misuse the information without informing the individuals. The whole operation is being conducted in a totally opaque and fraudulent manner. Click here for details.

Extent of Corruption and Fraud at DPS CGHS

The financial records of the Society carry numerous discrepancies. The RCS office has ascertained this fact, as it had ordered the inquiry under Section 61 of the DCS Act, 2003 to investigate the “financial and other irregularities” at DPS CGHS.

Moreover, many financial documents are either missing from the Society records or have been criminally destroyed by the MC members who have full control of the records. But the auditing firms / persons have been clearing the account books without any objections and without any effort to get them recovered.

Despite repeated complaints from the Society residents / members during the past about eight years (2010-2017), the RCS office of Delhi Government has failed to take any action to prevent corruption and safeguard the interests of affected Society members / residents.

As a result, 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 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 criminal activities of the MC. As most residents are extremely terrified by the violent behavior of the MC members of the Society, they have decided to stay quiet.

Now, I am fighting this battle alone to highlight the irregularities in the DPS Housing Society and the terror being inflicted by the managing committees (MCs) on innocent residents – men, women, and children.

By definition and application, various anti-corruption and maintenance of financial transparency laws are applicable in different cases of corruption at DPS Housing Society. These include the Prevention of Corruption Act, Indian Penal Code (IPC), and the Right to Service legislation which is aimed to reduce corruption and to increase transparency and accountability. After a thorough inquiry, the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, 1988 and Disproportionate Assets (DA) laws may also apply in some cases.

Although massive corruption is happening under the current MC members, they argue in an irrational manner that they are not responsible for the past corruption that has happened during the tenures of previous MCs.

This is an absurd argument. In fact, a new MC is equally responsible for the corrupt practices of the previous MCs if the new MC has accepted the financial irregularities of the previous MCs without any formal and transparent administrative and legal action against the previous MCs to recover the money lost in corruption.

If the new MC has not taken any legal action against the corrupt previous MC and the corruption money is not recovered, it shows the current MC’s complicity in crime.

Suppose, for example, if a case of misappropriation of funds happened in 2006, all the subsequent MCs are responsible for it if they have not initiated any formal legal proceedings overtly to recover the lost money in such a case. Similarly, all the members of the informal committees that MC formed to get its shady proposals cleared are also responsible for the wrongdoings.

According to global anti-corruption organization Transparency International, corruption thrives on low level of transparency. And there is no transparency in financial transactions at DPS Housing Society – so much so that the Society even flouts the government orders to maintain transparency. Now the DPS CGHS MC has blatantly refused to show its financial and other records in the corruption inquiry ordered by the RCS office. This is a manifestation of the fact that rampant corruption is happening in the Society.

Moreover, DPS Housing Society MC members mislead the residents and authorities by saying that the Society’s accounting books are in order. They do not want to understand that the accounting books of all corrupt organizations are always in order.

The accounting plus-minus calculations will always be correct because you are simply subtracting the expenses from the income. One should never trust the data given only in customary accounting books.

Actually, it amounts to corruption when the supporting documents are missing from the accounting books and transparent purchase procedures are not followed, which is the case at DPS Housing Society. These lapses are the proofs of corruption and fraud in white-collar crimes including financial and economic offences.

As a member of the Society, I have also been formally asking the MC members about certain financial and other details related to transparency of operations and expenditure procedures, but they could never give me those details.

The MC’s reply to all inquiries must include statutory financial documents, names / addresses of vendors, vendor selection procedures, payment terms, all related vouchers, expenditure processes, etc. that are required to be produced as per the inquiry. Only the income-expenditure statements and balance sheets will not satisfy any inquiry, as these bland statements / sheets conceal more than what they reveal.

Background of the Case

Although there has been blatant misappropriation of Society funds, the past and present managing committees (MCs) never tried to follow the statutory procedures. Here it is imperative to state that all the financial statements are meaningless if these are not supported by all the supportive documents and vouchers.

All these financial details and purchase processes should be available on Society’s website, but the MC has not revealed such important financial information through the website. Rather, the accused MC members are misusing their authority to put only selective information on website that promotes their own interests and threatens the dissenting members.

The MC members must know that all the corrupt companies of the world keep their account books clean, but still they are caught and punished because of various financial discrepancies.

Moreover, there should be “formal approvals” from the Society members and visible adherence to statutory financial requirements as prescribed under the law and government-specified norms for financial transactions.

Despite my repeated requests, different MCs have failed to produce such documentary support to justify the expenses running into hundreds of thousands (or crores of rupees).

Now, the MC members are getting excessively vindictive against me because I have exposed their corrupt practices, as they tried to make easy money in an illegal building extension / construction project under an ambiguous FAR (floor area ratio) scheme of the government.

Under residents’ protests, the previous MC – including M.M. Shukla, Neeraj Vaish, Ms. Geeta Gautam, Ms. Leela Swami, R.K. Saggi, K.L. Narayanan, H.L. Kaul – had to take back its decision and this FAR construction project was stopped.

From March 2017, the new MC – including Neeraj Vaish, R. Bala Subramanian, M.N. Sampathkumar, Ms. Leela Swami, Sandeep Taneja, Manguram Tyagi, Ms. Naseem Afshaque – which is actually controlled by the old members who are facing corruption charges is again trying to start the massive building extension and construction project worth crores of rupees, although the Delhi High Court has stopped such construction.

In order to extort public money for FAR construction, the current MC members are misleading the other members by circulating a totally irrelevant ruling about the majority decisions in a housing society. The majority rule cannot apply in FAR construction because it poses a risk to residents’ lives with dust and noise pollution.

The present and previous MC’s have been using flawed methods of conducting Annual General Meetings (AGMs) and General Body Meetings (GBMs) to justify their wrong decisions. I – as well as other members – have been repeatedly warning the MC’s about this. But all such requests have been falling on deaf ears and MC members have been behaving like unruly dictators.

They are not following the Delhi Cooperative Societies rules to hold AGMs / GBMs. The RCS office, as usual, has ignored the complaints of the residents about the flawed AGMs / GBMs.

The MC members claim that they have come unopposed in the MC office. That has been happening for the past many years for no honest person wants to become part of the MC because of the persisting mess in the Society’s accounts. Only greedy people whose eyes are on making easy money become MC office bearers.

The MC members also boast about their connections with the politicians / police / authorities indicating that no action can be taken against their frauds.

That seems to be true because the Registrar Cooperative Societies (RCS) of the Delhi Government is not taking any action to stop corruption and lawlessness at DPS CGHS.

The inquiry ordered by the RCS office is meaningless, as the accused MC members are allowed to hold office and control Society’s funds while they are expected to tamper with the records, insert fake documents in files, influence key witnesses, threaten opposing members, and collect more money from the residents.

In order to hold the inquiry in a fair and transparent manner, the RCS office must dismiss / dissolve the DPS CGHS MC and appoint an administrator to run the day-to-day affairs of the Society.

If the Registrar J.B.Singh and other RCS officials failed to take immediate action in terms of termination of the DPS CGHS MC and initiation of the corruption inquiry against the MC members, it will prove their connivance in crime and corruption at DPS CGHS.

Case Objectives

1. To get an immediate stay / restraining order against the present DPS Housing Society managing committee (MC), prohibiting it from taking any decision and carrying out any work in the Society.
2. To get the present managing committee (MC) dismissed through the office of Registrar Cooperative Societies (RCS) of Delhi Government.
3. To get a government inspector appointed through RCS office for investigating the past and ongoing corrupt practices by the successive MCs of the Society. This should also include a Special Audit of Society’s accounts right from the inception of the Society.
4. As they are refusing to reveal the details of financial misappropriation, the RCS office must recommend for the judicial custody of the MC members of DPS CGHS and others who are supporting them.
5. To get the prosecution started and charges framed against the guilty MC members (past and present) and their internal and external accomplices under Prevention of Corruption Act, Consumer Protection Act, Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, and other legislations which are aimed to reduce corruption and increase transparency and accountability.
6. To get the criminal MC members (past and present) and their supporters expelled from the Society as they pose a serious threat to the cooperative living and peace in the Society.
7. To investigate if there are cases of “assets disproportionate” to their known sources of income since the present and past MC members have been controlling public money worth crores of rupees. The investigation must also extend to the close relatives and / or inheritors of the present and past MC members.
8. To get the list of DPS CGHS members who have recently paid Rs. 2 lakh or more to MC for the illegal FAR construction / repair project so that their money could be forfeited and deposited in Society funds. These members should also be treated as co-conspirators who must face charges of abetment to crime.
9. To get the investigation extended to other gang members at DPS Housing Society. Their names and flat numbers are given in the attached document. The police and law-enforcement agencies must question their roles in the racket being run by the MCs of DPS CGHS.
10. To get an inquiry instituted against the government officials who have failed to take any action in the DPS Housing Society case despite repeated complaints from the suffering residents / members and multiple directions from the higher authorities.
11. To get an inquiry instituted against the government officials (including RCS J.B.Singh) from departments such as RCS and DDA who help the MC of DPS CGHS, as it is a case of complicity or connivance in crime.

Note: If it is beyond the powers of the RCS office to frame certain charges against the present and past MC members, their relatives, and / or others involved in the crimes, the RCS office should send these cases with its observations to police and other competent law-enforcement agencies.

The RCS office should also put this entire DPS CGHS case (including documents, details, and future proceedings) on its website so that other housing societies could learn from this horrific case.

You can click the following weblink to study the details of corruption and illegal activities at DPS CGHS.

[ Humanitarian Crisis Persists at DPS Housing Society in Delhi ]

Weblink: http://www.ramanmedianetwork.com/humanitarian-crisis-persists-at-dps-housing-society-in-delhi/

By Rakesh Raman, who is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. He is the founder of a humanitarian organization RMN Foundation which is working in diverse areas to help the disadvantaged and distressed people in the society.

About Rakesh Raman

Rakesh Raman is a government’s national award-winning journalist and social activist. Besides working at senior editorial positions with India’s leading media companies, he had been writing an edit-page column for The Financial Express, a business newspaper of the Indian Express group.

Nowadays, for the past about 7 years, he has been running his own global news services on different subjects. He also has formed an environment-protection group called Green Group in Delhi. He has created a comprehensive online information service to educate the Indian voters for the upcoming Lok Sabha election scheduled to happen in 2019.

He is also running a community-driven free online social service under the banner “Clean House” to help the suffering residents of Delhi raise their voice against the growing corruption and injustice in group housing societies where millions of people live.

Recently, he has released a comprehensive research report “Dark Streets: Research Report on Corruption in Delhi’s Housing Societies” that focuses on massive corruption and illegal activities in Delhi’s Cooperative Group Housing Societies.

He also has formed a free Education and Career Counselling Center for deserving children at a poor J.J. Colony in Dwarka, New Delhi under his NGO – RMN Foundation.

Earlier, he had been associated with the United Nations (UN) through United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) as a digital media expert to help businesses use technology for brand marketing and business development.

Contact

Rakesh Raman
463, DPS Apts., Plot No. 16, Sector 4
Dwarka, Phase I, New Delhi 110 078, INDIA
You may please contact me on my email.

Here are 16 different exhibits from official / government records which clearly show that rampant corruption and criminal activities have been happening at DPS CGHS. But the law-enforcement agencies have failed to arrest and interrogate any person involved in the crimes.  

Exhibit 1: Inquiry ordered by RCS office to investigate financial and other irregularities committed by the MC of DPS CGHS. Suddenly, RCS office scuttles the inquiry without giving any reason.

Exhibit 2: RCS office informs the complainant Rakesh Raman that the DPS CGHS has filed an appeal to get the corruption inquiry stopped. As this is a frivolous appeal, RCS office is not supposed to entertain it.

Exhibit 3: Show Cause Notice issued by RCS office to DPS CGHS MC in the case of financial and other irregularities. The DPS CGHS MC is trying to obstruct this inquiry dishonestly as it is refusing to show its dubious financial records to RCS office.

Exhibit 4: Letter from RCS office to DPS CGHS MC about 11 representations on corruption and illegal activities at DPS CGHS. The DPS CGHS MC could not give any satisfactory response.

Exhibit 5: Letter from RCS office to DPS CGHS MC to save the lives of people in the illegal car parking case which is posing risk in the event of fire. DPS CGHS MC has ignored the RCS letter.

Exhibit 6: Misleading ad released by the DPS CGHS MC for an illegal FAR construction project. This is an economic offence to extort public money for an illegal activity.

Exhibit 7: Contract document signed by the DPS CGHS President Neeraj Vaish to pay Rs. 8 lakh as “liasioning fee” to the architect firm. Liasioning fee is another name for bribe to get approvals for illegal construction.

Exhibit 8: Letter from Directorate of Vigilance under CVC directions to start a corruption inquiry at DPS CGHS. Inquiry is still pending.

Exhibit 9: Under directions from CVC and Directorate of Vigilance, the RCS office orders an inquiry in 7 different areas of corruption at DPS CGHS. Inquiry is still pending.

Exhibit 10: An example of corruption when the DPS CGHS MC decided to pay over Rs. 23 lakh (the cost finally went over Rs. 30 lakh) for a work that a vendor offered to do for just Rs. 4 lakh.

Exhibit 11: Letter from Delhi Police informing me that the DPS CGHS has refused to remove the illegal car parking. The case was sent to RCS office which did not take any action. Illegal car parking persists at DPS CGHS.

Exhibit 12: Notice from Labour Commissioner’s office to DPS CGHS President Neeraj Vaish in the Labour Rights Violation case. DPS CGHS MC is trying to evade this case by hook or by crook.

Exhibit 13: Letter from the Labour Minister’s office about the illegal activities at DPS CGHS. Illegal activities have not stopped at DPS CGHS.

Exhibit 14: Letter from Home (Police) Department regarding Labour Rights Abuse case at DPS CGHS. The DPS CGHS MC is trying to avoid this case by giving false information.

Exhibit 15: Letter from Directorate of Vigilance (DOV) of Delhi Government informing me that it has planned to start the inquiry against Mr. J.B. Singh, IAS and other officials of RCS office regarding corruption in DPS CGHS case.

Exhibit 16: Letter dated 21.06.2018 from Home (Police) Department of Delhi Government to RCS, Police (Vigilance), and Delhi Fire Service to take action in the case of illegal car parking at DPS CGHS.

Note: There are many other documents that show extreme corruption and lawlessness at DPS CGHS.

Disclosure: I have written this report not only as a journalist, but also as a victim of the fraud and intimidation happening at DPS Housing Society. I am facing repeated threats from the MC members and their supporters because I have been raising my voice against their corruption, lawlessness, environmental damage, and human rights violations.