Delhi Govt Allows Massive Corruption in Housing Societies. Case: Bhagwati CGHS
Delhi Govt Allows Massive Corruption in Housing Societies. Case: Bhagwati CGHS
With the help of a case study of Bhagwati housing complex, this report explains extreme corruption that is happening in Delhi’s cooperative group housing societies.
Case: Bhagwati Cooperative Group Housing Society (Bhagwati CGHS) Plot No. 1A, Sector 22, Dwarka, New Delhi – 110 078
September 1, 2018
By Rakesh Raman
Complaint Against:
- Udai Pratap Singh, Vice Chairman, Delhi Development Authority (DDA) – who has failed to stop corruption at DDA
- J.B. Singh, a former Registrar Cooperative Societies (RCS) – who had failed to stop corruption at RCS office
- Jayadev Sarangi, Registrar Cooperative Societies (RCS) – who has failed to stop corruption at RCS office
Case Overview
- As the administrative systems in Delhi have completely collapsed, millions of residents are victims of frauds being committed by the corrupt management committee (MC) members of different cooperative group housing societies in connivance with bureaucrats and politicians.
- The increasing corruption and lawlessness in Delhi manifest the fact that India has already become a politically unstable banana republic such as Botswana, Guatemala, Nigeria, Zambia, and Cuba.
- As corruption has been increasing exponentially in India including Delhi, the Supreme Court of India has asked the Narendra Modi government to appoint Lokpal, the top anti-corruption ombudsman in the country.
- The corruption in Delhi is being explained with a case study of Bhagwati Cooperative Group Housing Society (Bhagwati CGHS) where the members are experiencing extreme agony because of bureaucratic corruption and carelessness.
- The total corruption money in this case is estimated to be Rs. 300 crore while the government is not taking any steps to stop corruption and arrest the culprits.
- Such cases of crime and corruption are happening at an alarming frequency in Delhi while people – men, women, and children – are suffering because of the government’s incompetence and carelessness.
- The total corruption money in Delhi’s cooperative group housing societies is estimated to be thousands of crores of rupees.
Circulation of the Case Report
In order to inform others about the miserable conditions in which people of Delhi are living, this report will be sent to different stakeholders in India and abroad.
India
- Prime Minister of India
- Leaders of opposition political parties in India
- Local lawmakers
- Central Vigilance Commission (CVC)
- Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)
- Indian ministries and law-enforcement agencies that deal with crime and corruption
- Indian judiciary
- Compassionate lawyers to seek their pro bono help in different community cases that I handle selflessly
- Top educational institutes including law universities that will teach the students how to use law to save people’s rights when crimes and corruption are supported by the government
Abroad
- United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres
- Anti-Corruption Working Group of the UN – which works under the UN Global Compact Program
- Senior leadership of UN Environment Programme
- High Commissioner of the UN Human Rights Office
- Transparency International, a leading civil society organisation fighting corruption worldwide
- US Senate and US House of Representatives
- Global Human Rights Agencies
- Parliaments of different nations and top political leaders
- Nobel Committees that select Nobel Prize laureates
- The World Bank
- International Monetary Fund (IMF)
- World Economic Forum
Main Government Officials Responsible for Corruption
- Anil Baijal, Lt. Governor (LG) of Delhi and Chairman of Delhi Development Authority (DDA)
- Udai Pratap Singh, Vice Chairman, DDA
- Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister of Delhi
- Rajendra Pal Gautam, Minister Cooperative Societies, Delhi Government
- J.B. Singh, a former Registrar Cooperative Societies (RCS)
- Jayadev Sarangi, Registrar Cooperative Societies (RCS)
- Other related officials in DDA, RCS office, and Delhi Government
Campaign Against Corruption
If the government did not take concrete, visible steps within one month to stop corruption in DDA and RCS office as stated in the 12 Case Objectives towards the end of this report, I will start the next phase of my protest. It will include field campaigns and a hunger strike against bureaucratic and political corruption.
I have been running such campaigns to save the school education in Delhi and also to stop pollution in Delhi for which I have been receiving threats from criminals.
I request all the people of Delhi to support me in this endeavour so that we could together weed out corruption from Delhi.
Rakesh Raman
While the bureaucrats and politicians are behaving like criminals, rampant corruption and lawlessness is happening almost everywhere in Delhi. Government officials are only sending people’s complaints randomly from one department to another but people’s grievances are not being resolved.
These officials simply close the cases after sending people’s complaints to some other departments while the complainants keep suffering. Instead of solving public problems, the government officials force the poor public to go to courts. Most people do not have the resources to go to courts. And if courts have to do everything, why do we need the government and government officials?
I experience this bureaucratic inefficiency – which is the worst form of corruption – almost everyday because I run a community-driven anti-corruption service “Clean House” to help the suffering residents of Delhi.
All these bureaucrats and politicians behave like cruel rulers and treat the common citizens as their slaves while the truth is that they are the servants of the people. Therefore, the suffering people must unite and dethrone the cruel rulers.
Important: This report also includes 11 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 Bhagwati CGHS and other housing societies. But the government has failed to stop the crimes.
Highlights of the Case
- Members of Bhagwati CGHS complain that they are victims of corruption and fraud which is being committed by the Society MC members in connivance with the Registrar Cooperative Societies (RCS) of Delhi Government and Delhi Development Authority (DDA).
- The members lament that all their complaints against the fraud to the RCS and DDA have been falling on deaf ears and their litany of woes is increasing, as the builder is using arm-twisting tactics to extort money.
- The corruption is so rampant in Bhagwati CGHS that last year the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had issued a judgment stating that the accused persons entered into a criminal conspiracy to cheat the office of RCS and DDA.
- Although the aggrieved members of Bhagwati CGHS are quoting the CBI judgment to get relief, but the corrupt DDA and RCS officials have brazenly ignored members’ complaints.
- The RCS office had ordered a probe into the financial and other irregularities at Bhagwati CGHS, but it did not start and complete the investigation. In all probability, RCS officials were bribed to stop the probe.
- The accused builder and other abettors – in connivance with the RCS and DDA – are blatantly breaking the laws to loot and harass the members.
- The RCS office – with J.B. Singh (IAS) as the former head of the department – is fully responsible for the ongoing crime and corruption at Bhagwati CGHS and many other housing societies of Delhi. It is learnt that J.B. Singh has retired, but his retirement cannot give him immunity in these cases of corruption.
- Now it is learnt that the new Registrar Jayadev Sarangi at RCS office is also not quite responsive and he is just a part of the corrupt bureaucratic system.
- As the RCS office has become a sanctuary for the corrupt and corruption, the Directorate of Vigilance (DOV) – which is the top Delhi Government department to deal with corruption cases – has planned to start an inquiry against RCS J.B. Singh (IAS) and other officials of RCS office in the corruption case of DPS CGHS, Sector 4, Dwarka, New Delhi. While the inquiry is getting delayed, the MC members of DPS CGHS are still committing all sorts of crimes.
- As a journalist and social activist, I had complained about the Bhagwati CGHS case to the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Delhi Police. I was informed that a DCP / EOW is investigating the case. But later on 24.8.2018 the police concluded that the matter pertains to RCS.
- Similarly, I had approached the Directorate of Vigilance (DOV) to get relief for the harmed Bhagwati CGHS members. The DOV informed me it has forwarded my complaint to RCS office to take the comments of RCS officials. The response of RCS office is given below.
- Moreover, as I had complained, the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has also directed the Vigilance department of DDA to investigate the cases of corruption by DDA officials. DDA has not informed me about the progress of the inquiry.
- Since DDA is not responsive, it is recommended that a corruption inquiry must be initiated against DDA Vice Chairman Udai Pratap Singh who has completely failed to stop corruption at DDA.
- Similarly, LG Anil Baijal who is also the Chairman of DDA has completely failed to stop corruption at DDA and the RCS office while I regularly send multiple cases of corruption and illegal activities in housing societies to LG office.
- While Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his colleagues do not have sufficient knowledge and competence to understand the administrative systems, they themselves keep complaining about the defective systems. Then how will the help the people? Instead of solving people’s problems, they are sitting like political parasites and allowing corruption to happen in almost every street of Delhi.
- In order to thwart my anti-corruption efforts, the corrupt people are sending 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. But I am not deterred and I will keep fighting truthfully against their crimes and corruption to get the culprits arrested and imprisoned.
Case: The Bhagwati Cooperative Group Housing Society (Bhagwati CGHS) Limited Registration No. (1112 GH) Plot No. 1A, Sector 22, Dwarka, New Delhi – 110078.
Corruption and CBI Investigation
The shocking case of financial fraud and other irregularities at Bhagwati CGHS must not come as a surprise to those who are familiar with the corrupt practices of the Registrar Cooperative Societies (RCS) office of Delhi Government and Delhi Development Authority (DDA).
While both these departments have repeatedly failed to discharge their responsibilities honestly in a number of corruption cases in different housing societies, they have fallen to a new level of delinquency in the case of Bhagwati CGHS.
The suffering members of Bhagwati CGHS allege that the contractor M/s Best Buildwell Pvt. Ltd. is blatantly committing fraud in connivance with the executive members (or management committee members) of the Society, and their complaints to the DDA and RCS office are not being heard.
They also complain that despite an order by the CBI in CBI vs . A.K.Chauhan & Ors. on 31 October, 2017 in Case No. CBI08/2016 of Bhagwati CGHS, the illegal activities continue in the Society.
In the said CBI case, the accused persons have been found guilty and convicted u/s- 120-B r/w 420/468/471 IPC & u/s- 13(2) (1) (d) of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
In his letter dated 14.12.2017 written to the Director (Group Housing) of DDA, M.G. Sathya – an Asstt. Registrar of RCS office – quoted the CBI judgment and urged the DDA to take action.
It was stated in the said letter that two inferences can be made from the judgment of the Special Judge CBI – (a) fraudulent enhancement of freeze list from 150 to 300 members and (b) getting allotment of land to the Society from DDA at subsidized rates based on false and forged documents.
Subsequently, on 31.01.2018, a member of the Society sent a letter to LG (who is also the Chairman of DDA) and Vice Chairman DDA for the cancellation of land allotted by DDA to Bhagwati CGHS because the land was allotted “based on false and forged documents.” But the LG and Vice Chairman DDA did not take any responsible action.
This is nothing but corruption of DDA top brass. 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.”
Complicity of RCS Officials
Since the RCS office is one of the most corrupt departments of Delhi Government and works hand in glove with the corrupt MCs of housing societies, the Bhagwati CGHS member also complained to the Registrar on 11.01.2018 that the “tainted builder Sanjeev Malhotra” claims that “the RCS has been tackled and the RCS has ensured that all orders against the Society will be reversed.” The assertion indicates that the RCS officials have been sufficiently bribed to get the orders reversed.
That is quite visible in the ongoing fraud at Bhagwati CGHS. As the accused have presumably bribed the top RCS officials, they are openly defying the law and committing crimes.
In December 2017, for example, the RCS office released an advertisement to inform the public that the MC of Bhagwati CGHS has committed grave violations of DCS Act and Rules, and therefore the new membership in the Society is not permitted.
However, the accused blatantly released a counter advertisement to invite new membership in the Society and demanded money from new members by 20.06.2018. The RCS office failed to restrain the accused MC which is openly breaking the law. Strangely, the RCS office has not handed over the case to the police that must arrest the accused to stop the fraud and illegal activities.
The Bhagwati CGHS members say they have learnt that instead of openly stopping the builder and MC members, the RCS officers have shared an official document with the accused on which they have secretly permitted the MC to take new members. If this is the case, it is a total fraud committed by the RCS in connivance with the Bhagwati CGHS MC members and the builder.
“The present MC in collusion with the contractor M/s Best Buildwell Pvt. Ltd. is continuing to enroll new members and has issued public invitation for the enrollment of new members knowing well that the Society is already facing problems due to illegal and fraudulent excessive enrollment of members,” the suffering members informed RMN News Service which runs “Clean House” community service to report about corruption cases.
They added that as a result of fraud, the Society is facing claim petitions from 117 members and the Bhagwati CGHS MC is asking the existing members to pay Rs. 5 lakh each for an out-of-court deal to settle the claims of those 117 members.
FAR Fraud in Group Housing Societies
The floor area ratio (FAR) construction scheme in group housing societies is a fraud supported by DDA and the Delhi Government. By giving permission for FAR extended construction and pollution, Delhi Government has become the first government in the contemporary world that wants to kill its own people en masse.
The FAR construction in inhabited housing complexes – where people are living – is being compared to the poisonous gas chambers used by Nazi Germany during the Holocaust for the genocide of millions of European Jews. The dust and noise pollution from FAR construction will harm millions of people – including children and senior citizens – in Delhi.
The pollution-laden FAR construction is part of a multi-crore-rupees corruption scandal being run by criminals who act under the garb of elected managing committee (MC) members in group housing societies.
While Delhi / Indian government is tacitly supporting the criminal racket under the FAR scheme, it is being run by corrupt MC members, law-breaking residents, and lawless construction companies. You can click here to read more about the government’s fraudulent FAR scheme.
People who want to stop FAR construction in their housing societies must unite and oppose this construction and pollution. If you want my help, you may please contact me on my email.
Rakesh Raman
DDA Corruption
Among other irregularities, the Bhagwati CGHS members allege that the construction of flats at the Society began even before the approval of building plan / map by the DDA. However, the corrupt DDA officials have allowed construction to happen. “It is unauthorized construction,” allege the Bhagwati CGHS members.
In a letter dated June 4, 2018 written to Vice Chairman DDA, the members explained their case and said that the DDA officials are continuing with their corrupt practices. They requested to get the illegal construction stopped at Bhagwati CGHS.
According to Bhagwati CGHS members, the map from DDA was approved on July 17, 2015 vide building Plan No.: F23(17)2000/BLDG/14 whereas the construction of flats had started much earlier in the year 2012.
They add that the revised maps were submitted by the Society on March 22, 2017. While these maps were not approved by DDA, the construction had started as per the revised maps in the year 2015.
The fraud does not stop here. Now the Society is giving misleading advertisements to rope in new members with the aim to fleece them while the existing members are being expelled deceptively by influencing the RCS office.
Bhagwati CGHS members reveal that Society’s advertisements in newspapers claim that the covered area of 5-bedroom flat is 2910 sq. ft., but actually the total area is 2330 sq. ft. and the net area is only 1425 sq. ft. as per the maps submitted for approval in DDA.
Similarly, the members complain that in the minutes of the General Body Meeting (GBM) the covered area of 4-bedroom flat is shown as 2204 sq. ft. while in the DDA-approved map the total area is only 1550 sq. ft. and net area is 1045 sq. ft.
“The Society is making fool of innocent people. DDA is not responding to our complaints and out RTI queries are not being replied properly by DDA,” the Bhagwati CGHS members told RMN News Service, which runs “Clean House” online social service to help the suffering residents of Delhi.
In a letter dated July 17, 2018 written to Secretary (Housing and Urban Affairs) with a copy to DDA Vice Chairman Udai Pratap Singh, the members have explained the irregularities committed by DDA officials by allowing illegal construction at Bhagwati CGHS.
The aggrieved members complain in their letter that with an RTI application they had requested for the approved copy of the plans for flats under which construction has been undertaken, but strangely DDA officials said this information is personal and can not be supplied without the consent of the President of Society. In a way, the dishonest DDA officials are saying that they want to take thieves’ permission before catching them.
“It appears that DDA officials are colluding with the President of the Society, the architect and contractor to allow illegal construction,” the members contend.
DDA Corruption in FAR Scheme
The corrupt DDA officials have gone so berserk that they have made a mockery of even the RTI (Right to Information) which is an Act of the Parliament of India. Under this Act, any citizen of India can seek information from a government department which is required to reply within 30 days.
In another RTI application, I had asked for the list of those occupied cooperative group housing societies for which FAR (floor area ratio) extension proposals have been received, approved, and rejected by the DDA during the years 2016 and 2017.
After many months, DDA informed me through a letter dated May 18, 2018 that it does not have any such list in its record. How can it be possible that DDA has not kept the record of proposals that have been submitted to it? It shows the crude and dishonest way in which DDA works.
FAR construction in occupied group housing societies is a big racket supported by DDA while the Delhi High Court has stopped FAR construction. Unfortunately, DDA is not responding to my repeated complaints and allowing FAR construction and pollution in occupied group housing societies because there is a huge opportunity for corruption.
Since DDA was not willing to stop FAR construction despite its lethality, I approached the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) – which is supposed to check corruption in government departments – with the request to investigate the role of concerned DDA officials in FAR projects. Now, the CVC has directed DDA to hold an inquiry.
As corruption is increasing at DDA, reports suggest that DDA has planned to fix responsibility on its officials in cases of illegal construction activities and violation of the master plan and building bye-laws in Delhi.
In this regard, recently DDA placed an action plan before the Supreme Court of India. Attorney General K. K. Venugopal, who appeared for DDA, told the bench that rampant corruption is happening in DDA and stringent measures need to be taken to stop this corruption.
In its action plan, DDA has stated that it intends to check all ongoing and future unauthorized constructions in the city under the supervision of a Special Task Force (STF) which has been constituted following an apex court order.
Moreover, with an emphasis on preventive vigilance, CVC is developing an Integrity Index for critical organizations. Initially 25 organizations have been selected for the development of the Index. Obviously, because of its corruption, DDA is among these organizations.
As all this rampant corruption is happening right under the nose of DDA Vice Chairman Udai Pratap Singh, the possibility of his involvement in crime and corruption cannot be ruled out.
Research Report on Corruption
I have compiled and released a new research report that reveals various aspects of corruption in India with a focus on housing societies. You can click the following link to download the report and support me in the effort to weed out corruption from our country.
[ Click here to download the report on corruption in India ]
Inspection Blocked by RCS Office
The Bhagwati CGHS members complain that instead of helping the members whose money has been looted by the contractor and other executive members, the RCS office – which is working hand in glove with the accused contractor – has wrongfully expelled dozens of members from the Society.
“Their (RCS officials’) offences include cheating, fraud, criminal misappropriation of funds, criminal breach of trust, and criminal conspiracy against the members of the Society in order to usurp their hard-earned money, thereby causing wrongful loss to the members and wrongful gain to themselves,” the suffering members complain.
They add that the RCS office with its office order No. F. 47/1112/GH/E/2013-14/335-340 dated 15.05.2015 which is signed by Addl. RCS Mr. Raj Kumar had ordered an inspection at Bhagwati CGHS.
The said order sought an inspection into the constitution, working and financial condition of the Bhagwati CGHS Ltd. on the following issues:
- Whether the appointment / award of contract to the contractor and architect of the Society, is as per law?
- Whether the work awarded to the contractor and architect is based on reasonable rates?
However, as the RCS office usually does, it failed to start and complete the inspection, and fraud is happening openly at the Society.
It has been repeatedly observed that RCS office – which is among the most corrupt departments of Delhi Government – orders inquiries into the corrupt practices of a housing society and then suddenly stops pursuing them. These are all ‘eyewash’ inquiries that RCS office orders to falsely satisfy the complainants.
Most believe that the RCS officials from bottom to top are extremely corrupt and they take bribes from builders and management committee (MC) members to scuttle the inquiries ordered by the RCS office itself and other anti-corruption departments.
In some cases, the RCS office has worked so unscrupulously that it has stopped its inquiries directed by India’s top anti-corruption organization Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) and Directorate of Vigilance of Delhi Government.
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.
The ongoing corruption at DDA and RCS offices indicates that India has already become a politically unstable banana republic with rampant lawlessness, corruption, and exploitation of the ordinary citizens.
Bureaucratic and political corruption has become 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.
As corruption has been increasing exponentially in India including Delhi, the Supreme Court of India has asked the Narendra Modi government to appoint Lokpal, the top anti-corruption ombudsman in the country.
If the situation is not controlled immediately, it is expected that soon international sanctions will be imposed on India because of government’s failure to stop increasing crime and corruption.
In Delhi, LG Anil Baijal and chief minister Arvind Kejriwal are fully aware of bureaucratic and political corruption because I keep sending them corruption cases along with documents.
Instead of taking concrete steps to stop corruption, they blindly send my complaint cases to other departments as if they are running a post office.
Corruption at RCS Office
The members of Bhagwati CGHS have experienced extreme corruption at RCS office which has decided to support the builder and MC members who are facing allegations of financial fraud and other felonies.
The suffering members allege that the financial and other irregularities have increased manifold now and the contractor M/s Best Buildwell Pvt. Ltd. with the help of a few accomplices has influenced the RCS office dishonestly to get some members expelled from the Society and get the RCS-ordered inspection stopped.
In their letter dated 13.04.2018, the aggrieved members of Bhagwati CGHS urged the RCS office to complete the pending inspection and investigate the ongoing irregularities at the Society. But the RCS office ignored their request.
The members say they have learnt that the accused in this case have got a stay on the pending inspection from a higher forum while they were not even informed about the stay decision by the authorities. Obviously, the government officials who are taking such reckless decisions are being bribed to work in favour of the builder and accused MC members.
As I have been running a free community-driven online social service under the banner “Clean House” to report about corruption in housing societies, the members of Bhagwati CGHS also approached me to take up their case.
After studying their documents, I sent the initial notice on May 16, 2018 to J.B. Singh (IAS), Registrar Cooperative Societies (RCS) to have his views in the Bhagwati CGHS. But he did not respond.
The office of the Lt. Governor (LG) of Delhi had also sent my email request about Bhagwati CGHS to the Registrar as well as the Nodal Officer of RCS office on May 16, 2018. But the RCS office ignored that too and did not respond.
It clearly shows that the bureaucrats at RCS office have an utter disregard for law and they have been working in a totally irresponsible manner. In fact, former Registrar J.B. Singh and his predecessors are fully responsible for the chaos and corruption that is persisting at the RCS office.
Responsibility of Registrar
As a journalist and social activist, I had complained about the Bhagwati CGHS case to the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Delhi Police. I was informed that a DCP / EOW is investigating the case. But later on 24.8.2018 the police concluded that the matter pertains to RCS.
Similarly, I had approached the Directorate of Vigilance (DOV) to get relief for the harmed Bhagwati CGHS members. The DOV informed me it has forwarded my complaint to RCS office to take the comments of RCS officials. The RCS office has responded.
In a communication dated 12.06.2018, M.G. Sathya, Assistant Registrar at RCS office, informed me that “the matter is being looked into by the investigative agency with regard to various complaints made against the Society by the members. Besides, inquiry has also been initiated by this office and further action will be taken in accordance with the provisions of DCS Act and Rules.”
But the inquiry has not progressed, although nearly 3 month have elapsed from the date of RCS office’s communication to me. And all such inquiries are meaningless if the MCs of the societies are not suspended or dismissed before starting the inquiries. The government officials must understand that bureaucratic inefficiency is also a form of corruption for which they can be hauled up.
Corruption Case Study
If you want to know how corrupt MC members of a housing society commit various crimes and circumvent the law because of Delhi government’s weakness in stopping crime and corruption, you can study the case of DPS Housing Society in Dwarka.
Click here to visit DPS Housing Society webpage.
In their allegations, the members of Bhagwati CGHS reveal that the contractor was appointed in 2003 and at the time of appointment, the contractor, architect, their employees, and relatives were the members of the Society. This, they argue, is a case of conflict of interest and such a contractor should never had been appointed.
“Various inquiries were done / ordered by the RCS office, but due to the connivance and collusion of the contractor with the RCS office, no action has been taken yet,” the complainants at Bhagwati CGHS said. “The appointment of architect and contractor is illegal.”
Further, they add that there were enormous irregularities in calling the tender for construction work and the award of work was illegal. The aggrieved members also complain that the office bearers of Bhagwati CGHS took the decisions arbitrarily without taking proper approvals in the General Body Meeting (GBM).
Under the “Clean House” service, I get multiple complaints from suffering residents who lament that despite their repeated representations against the MC members and particularly the fraudulent ways in which they conduct GBMs, the RCS office has not taken any steps to change the system of GBMs. As voting members are usually bribed by corrupt MCs, the MCs should not be allowed to take any financial decisions in GBMs.
The RCS order of 15.05.2015 in Bhagwati CGHS case specifically mentions that the award of contract to contractor M/s Best Buildwell Pvt. Ltd. was illegal and there was forgery, fabrication in the minutes of the meeting (GBM). But surprisingly RCS office did not feel the need to carry out the investigation in order to catch the culprits.
In an RTI reply dated 21.06.2016, the RCS office brazenly admitted that it did not appoint the inspection officer even after a year of its order. Worse, in an RTI reply dated 03.04.2018, the RCS office failed to provide the copy of the report that the inspection officer was supposed to file because it had not appointed the inspection officer.
The Bhagwati CGHS members claim that when they checked the related file at RCS office, even the order copy was missing. That means, in order to help the accused builder, the RCS officials had criminally destroyed the official document pertaining to the inquiry in a corruption case.
The Bhagwati CGHS members also inform that the builder is arbitrarily increasing the flat prices – which is a case of cheating and fraud. For example, the price of a 3-bedroom flat has been increased from Rs. 26,37,670 to a whopping Rs. 67,88,751. Similarly, the price of a 4-bedroom flat has been increased from Rs. 28,56,550 to Rs. 81,78,051.
The fraud does not end here. The Bhagwati CGHS members say that the 5-bedroom flats were not in the initial plan. But in order to plunder the buyers, the builder is offering 5-bedroom flats at an astronomical price of nearly Rs. 3 crore. Now there are nearly 150 5-bedroom flats in the 300-flat Society. The members also allege that DDA is giving approvals for illegal construction.
They add that it is part of the racket being run in connivance with the RCS office, as the RCS office has arbitrarily expelled a number of members in order to help the accused builder take new members for illegally constructed 5-bedroom flats which are more expensive.
The harmed members of Bhagwati CGHS also say that the actual covered area of flats is less than the committed area while the same category of flats are being sold at different rates. “The balance sheets are also full of financial irregularities,” the members say.
But unfortunately the RCS office seems to be complicit in this crime. If the Registrar Jayadev Sarangi did not suspend / dismiss the current MC and start the investigation, the affected Bhagwati CGHS members will be forced to go to courts in order to seek justice. If that happens, why do we need the careless officials at DDA and RCS office?
Case Objectives
- The RCS office must start the inquiry it had ordered at Bhagwati CGHS and publicly release its findings immediately.
- The RCS office must suspend the current management committee controlled by the builder to complete the inquiry in a fair manner.
- The expelled members of Bhagwati CGHS must be reinstated without any bureaucratic hassle.
- The aggrieved members must be given the flats at the original terms without any price escalation.
- The culprits at Bhagwati CGHS must be identified and punished.
- The CVC and other law-enforcement agencies should start inquiries against the former Registrar J.B. Singh, his predecessor, and other officials at RCS office who are complicit in the crime.
- The current Registrar Jayadev Sarangi must be directed suitably to work efficiently and honestly in all corruption cases in the RCS office.
- The Registrar (RCS) must reveal similar cases in other housing societies where RCS office has ordered the inquiry but did not complete it in order to start the inquiries immediately.
- The Registrar must immediately suspend all the MCs that are facing corruption inquiries, and appoint administrators in those housing societies.
- RCS office should put all such cases on its website so that the inquiries could be held in a transparent manner. Closed-door investigations will be meaningless.
- Similarly, the CVC and other law-enforcement agencies should start inquiries against DDA Vice Chairman Udai Pratap Singh and other DDA officials who are complicit in the crime. DDA should also stop FAR construction which is spreading lethal dust and noise pollution in occupied group housing societies.
- All the negligent or irresponsible officials at DDA and RCS offices must be suspended before starting the inquiries against them.
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 over 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 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 on corruption in India.
He 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 11 different exhibits from official / government records which clearly show that rampant corruption and criminal activities have been happening at Bhagwati CGHS and other housing societies. But the government has failed to stop the crimes.
Exhibit 1: RCS official’s letter that informs DDA about the CBI judgment on fraud in Bhagwati CGHS case.
Exhibit 2: A Bhagwati CGHS member informs DDA about the CBI judgment on fraud in the Society.
Exhibit 3: A Bhagwati CGHS member quotes Anti Corruption Branch of Delhi to inform RCS about the connivance of RCS officials with the accused in the Society.
Exhibit 4: An ad released by RCS office to inform the public about the fraud in Bhagwati CGHS.
Exhibit 5: In this letter to DDA, members requested to get the illegal construction stopped at Bhagwati CGHS.
Exhibit 6: Bhagwati CGHS members allege that the Society is giving misleading advertisements to rope in new members.
Exhibit 7: DDA says it has not kept the record of FAR proposals that have been submitted to it.
Exhibit 8: RCS office ordered the inquiry in Bhagwati CGHS but did not start and complete it.
Exhibit 9: Recent complaint to RCS Office by Bhagwati CGHS members.
Exhibit 10: RTI reply in which the RCS office brazenly admits that it did not appoint the inspection officer.
Exhibit 11: RTI reply in which the RCS office failed to provide the copy of the inspection report to Bhagwati CGHS members.
