Gujcomasol scam: the court approves the recovery of ₹6.44 crore, but who will pay?
Since Patel’s demise in Feb 2020, the question arises, from whom is the money to be recovered?
The amount can also be recovered from Patel’s property
Updated: Jul 19th, 2023
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| Image: Gujcomasol website |
Gujarat High Court has ordered to appoint a person to recover ₹6.44 crore over the illegal recruitment scam in Gujcomasol which is short for Gujarat State Cooperative Marketing Federation.
The then chairman of the organisation, Natvarlal Patel, aka Natubhai Patel, perpetrated the illegal recruitment of 79 employees under section 93 of the Gujarat Cooperative Societies Act, 1961. However, since Patel’s demise in Feb 2020, the question arises, from whom is the money to be recovered?
To be paid from Patel’s properties, or by his heirs?
Cooperative sector experts say that if the board of directors approves the steps taken by them, the power to collect from the board of directors will go to the person appointed by the cooperative department.
If the bank’s auditor has audited the accounts and he has not drawn attention to the matter, the auditor can also be held liable. The amount can also be recovered from Patel’s property. And at last, the responsibility may also fall upon his heirs.
The appointment of 79 employees
In the investigation conducted under Section 86 of the Gujarat Cooperative Societies Act into the recruitment scam, it was stated that Patel appointed 79 employees without advertising in the newspaper. Eligible candidates were also not called from the employment office.
No written or oral examinations were conducted for the appointed employees. After this recruitment, only staff submission approval was obtained. It was alleged that ₹8 to ₹15 lakh per employee was taken by the chairman for this recruitment.
The other unexplained costs
Moreover, Gujcomasol only had ₹2.26 cr under the building fund but the building was purchased at a cost of ₹20.50 cr. A prior approval was not obtained from the registrar to purchase this building. This also means that the provision of Section 71 of the Gujarat Cooperative Societies Act was clearly violated.
A whopping amount of ₹1.75 cr was also borne by Gujcomasol as a result of Patel buying pigeon pea (toor) and the green gram (moong).
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