The Maharashtra Charity Commissioner on Tuesday said his office coud not initiate action against Anna Hazare or the 10 trusts he floated because he had not received the Sawant Commission report of 2005 alleged irregularities.
Charity Commissioner M K Choure told Business Standard: “There was no question of taking action against Hazare or the 10 trusts as our office has not received the reports submitted by the P B Sawant Commission and the D M Sukhthankar-led task force. How can we initiate action when our office in Mumbai or deputy charity commissioner’s office in Pune are not in possession of these reports?”
The charity commissioner said the reports were submitted to the state government in 2005 but beyond that they do not have any information. “We have not read the recommendations made in these reports and therefore so far no action has been taken against Hazare or his trusts.”
The Sawant Commission had slammed Hazare and Yadavbaba Shikshan Prasarak Mandal, one of the 10 trusts, for violating the provisions of Bombay Public Trust Act. It said money was borrowed from outsiders other than the trustees, without the permission of the charity commissioner. Besides, the commission had also criticised the trusts for failing to submit their account details regularly to the charity commissioner.
The Sukhthankar-led task force had observed that the violations of the provisions of Bombay Public Trust Act be brought to the notice of Maharashtra Charity Commissioner for further action.
Choure was asked to keep the institutions concerned under periodical surveillance through his subordinate officers so that similar lapses by the trustees do not recur in the future, and in case they do, it should not go unnoticed without due cognizance being taken. “We recommend that the government in the law & judiciary department may take necessary action accordingly,” the task force had said.
