New Delhi, Sep 11
The Delhi Gymkhana Club (DGC) members have written to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) claiming that the prestigious club is losing its sheen, due to irregularities in managing its day-to-day affairs along with a flurry of violations -- from Companies Act to the Articles of Association -- which have been committed by the Centre-nominated management.
The club went under the control of the government-nominated administrator on February 15, 2021, since then three administrators have tried their hands on managing the club, and recently in April, government nominated six persons as directors on general committee (GC) of the club after National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) allowed it to take over the management of the club.
Violations under Companies Act 2013, memorandum of association (MoA), Articles of Association (AoA), and also bye-laws of the club -- the nine members of the last elected general committee (GC) of the club have written to Rao Inderjit Singh, Minister of State, MCA, detailing a long list of issues where the government nominated management has violated the Articles in taking decisions and running the daily affairs of the club.
The email communication, sent by nine members of the last GC to the MCA, said: "Delhi Gymkhana Club has followed a policy of sharing the Minutes of Meetings (MoM) of the General Committees (Board) and its Sub Committees, with the members. Since the takeover of the management by an administrator and later a nominated Board of Directors, information regarding policy decisions or any minutes of any meeting, etc., have not been made available to the members (Shareholders)."
It added, "In spite of orders to the contrary from the NCLT/NCLAT, the administrator has been issuing usage cards, including to himself. This was in violation of the Articles of Association and of the orders of the Tribunal banning issue of fresh membership cards."
The email said that due to the sudden dismissal of the last elected GC of DGC, the MoM of the GC and its sub-committees have not been confirmed and these unconfirmed minutes have been forwarded to the MCA for their records. The members said this is a violation of the sanctity of the Companies Act and Rules requiring full and accurate minutes of Board meetings to be maintained in the records. "These Minutes containing disputed and unconfirmed decisions, as recorded, have been misused by the administrator for taking actions which have had adverse impact on the functioning of the club," added the email.
It further added that the Annual Accounts Statement for 2020-21 was rejected by the general body by 97 per cent votes at the last AGM held by the administrator Om Pathak. "The passing of corrected accounts as per the Companies Act is still pending in spite of it being nine months since they were rejected. This is a violation of the Companies Act. These were required to be corrected and passed by convening the adjourned meeting and passing the accounts. This has not been done and the passing of accounts for the year 2020- 21 is still pending," it added.
In connection with violation of guest bye laws, the email said, "Pertaining to entry and use of club by non -members as well as irregularities in issues of usage cards despite the bar placed by the tribunals orders. The club bye laws require all guests to be signed in by members who pay a guest fee for them. The administrator organised several events and opened the club to members of the public without any restriction or levy of guest fees. This caused loss of revenue from guest fees..."
The members urged the government to allow the management of the club to revert to the stakeholders whose personal contributions have supported the institution since 1913 and allow it to retain its pre-eminent position as one of the country's premiere clubs in India with an aspirational membership.
