Despite probe report, no action against DBA so far

Ajay Joshi

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, October 27

Notwithstanding a 35-page inquiry report submitted by Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) Jasvir Singh against former office-bearers of the District Badminton Association (DBA), Jalandhar, for causing huge financial losses and not maintaining account books, no action has been taken by the administration so far. The report was submitted in February last.

The lifetime members of the association have sought the registration of a criminal case against the accused. They said while an FIR had been registered against officials of the District Cricket Association, Ludhiana, on the complaint of a former joint secretary with regard to misappropriation of funds, nothing has been done in the Jalandhar case even after the inquiry report.

The members, who had lodged complaints against Rajinder Paul Singh Kalsi and Ashwani Kumar, the last two honorary secretaries of the DBA, demanded that the accused should be brought to book.

The allegations against Kalsi and Kumar include negligence in maintaining the record of membership and books of accounts during their tenure, unlawfully inducting new members to the DBA, failing to discharge their statutory duty of holding the elections to the DBA, revenue losses, and utilising funds without taking the executive committee into the loop.

As per the report, the rent of the shops had not been increased since 1999, though there was a clause of 10 per cent annual increase in the agreement.

The DBA got only Rs 75,000 monthly rent from eight shops in the prime location, of which 35 per cent went to the Jalandhar Municipal Corporation as per the agreement. The rent deeds are also missing, causing a huge financial loss to the MC as well as the DBA.

Following the submission of complaints, the ADC investigated the matter and submitted his inquiry report to the then Deputy Commissioner, Varinder K Sharma, on February 12 this year.

Sharma had ordered an inquiry into the matter on October 30, 2019. The inquiry report clearly concluded that serious lapses were committed by Kalsi and Kumar.

While Kalsi served as the honorary secretary for over 23 years, Kumar served for nearly nine years even as their tenure was only for three years.

On the other hand, Kalsi, while talking to The Tribune, termed the allegations as baseless. Ritin Khanna, a member of the interim committee, however, claimed that all allegations against Kalsi and Kumar were true to their facts, hence, the authorities should intervene and take necessary action against them.

Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Ghanshayam Thori said, “The matter was brought to the notice during the tenure of my predecessor, hence he would look into the inquiry report and the issue will be resolved as soon as possible.”

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