Dissent brews in Delhi Gymkhana over plan to counter govt takeover

nNEWDELHI: The Delhi Gymkhana Club is facing dissent within its own governing body over the strategy to counter a petition filed in the National Company Law Tribunal by the government to take over the club’s management on grounds of financial irregularities and promoting nepotism.

Three members of the governing body have lodged their dissent over “exorbitant legal fees” in writing with president, DR Soni, a retired lieutenant general, people familiar with the matter said. They have also flagged the Club’s response to the petition as “unwise strategy”. The threemembers are former IPS officer Parvez Hayat, committee member Pooja Singh and Indian Statistical Services officer Ganga Kumar. Hayat and Kumar declined to comment, while Singh could not be reached.

The club was given till May 8 to file its response to a petition by the ministry of corporate affairs alleging “parivarwaad” (nepotism), financial irregularities, misuse of allocated land as the primary reasons behind its move to acquire it.

Management of the Club, said members of the body, has decided to plead no wrongdoing. “They are planning to file a response saying that the case is entirely motivated and has been filed by those who were denied membership,” said a member.

According to a former governing body member, the three dissenters first wrote to BS Randhawa, a retired admiral, who is in charge of legal affairs at the club, and then to the president, Soni, who was unavailable for comment despite repeated attempts. “The dissent has been going on from 23rd March when the first notice was sent,” said a second member.

“Some feel that the club is not being defended in the right manner. The governing body can take a view that there were some violations of the Articles of Association and ask for three months to take corrective measures.”

One of the mainstays of the government’s petition, filed by north region director Raj Singh, is that the club was arbitrarily granting membership. A white paper published by the Club in October 2014, too, had flagged and addressed serious issues relating to membership of the club.

The dissent of the three governing body members is being widely circulated on ‘Hamara Gymkhana’, a Whatsapp group for members. “Tomorrow there can be a serious frauds investigation,” said the second member.

“Why do lawyers have to be paid ~1.5 crore to fight a case in NCLT?. The three members suggested that the Club hire one lawyer instead of two.”

According to the first member, some in the governing body feel they are being left out of crucial decisions. “No one gets time to analyse any of the agenda items,” the first member said. “Most decisions are last-minute. On Thursday, the governing body met to cast a ballot to approve the strategy. They weren’t even given a copy of the final reply.” The two members said the governing body lacked transparency. “The answer is not that the Centre should take over the club, but rather in fixing the issues,” the second member added.

THREE MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BODY HAVE LODGED THEIR DISSENT OVER ‘EXORBITANT LEGAL FEES’ IN WRITING WITH THE PRESIDENT