Refer Pratibha's MPLADS violation to privileges panel:NDA

New Delhi, July 7 (UNI) The National Democratic Alliance today submitted a petition before Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee urging him to refer the issue of 'gross violation' of the guidelines of utilisation of MP Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) by UPA Presidential candidate Pratibha Patil, to the Ethics Committee or Privileges Committee.

A delegation led by NDA Convenor George Fernandes, BJP Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha Vijay Kumar Malhotra, Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, Kishan Singh Sangwan and Raghbir Singh Kaushal met Mr Chatterjee at his office in Parliament House and drew his attention to the spate of reports in the media and allegations which have created concern in the minds of people about the suitability of a 'tainted person' occupying the highest constitutional office of the country.

The allegations, the leaders said, ranged from serious financial irregularities in the institutions founded by Mrs Patil to protecting her brother, accused of murdering a Congress party rival. Mrs Patil chose not to refute the allegations point by point but dubbed them as 'baseless and motivated', the delegation added.

We are aware that the scrutiny of the alleged scandal does not come under your purview, but we are drawing on the allegations highlighted in the media and the media report headlined, ''For the family again'', which has highlighted Mrs Patil's funds for buildig a sports complex on the land leased to her husband's society.

The memorandum said Mrs Patil, a Lok Sabha MP from 1991 to 1996 representing Amaravati constitutency in Maharashtra, had given Rs 36 lakh from her MPLADS fund for building a sports complex near a college run by family trust, 'Vidya Bharati Shikshan Sanstha', established by her husband Devisinh Shekhawat in 1995.

The Trust did not own the land and hence, local authorities did not allow the construction. The matter then went to the Bombay High Court which placed restraint on the use of funds in 1999.

However, in April 2007, the state government released a 25,000 sq ft plot near the college to the Trust and the following month, district authorities authorised construction of the sports complex on the plot using the Rs 36 lakh allocated 12 years ago by Mrs Patil.

The MPLADS scheme clearly bars funding to a society if a MP or any of his/her family members is a President/Chairman or Managing Committee member or a Trustee of the society in question. Family members would include the MP, his or her spouse and children. Hasn't Mrs Patil violated this rule?, the memorandum asked Mr Chatterjee. As she was an MP in 1996, how could the unutilised funds under MPLADS be used 11 years after her expiry as an MP? Scrupulous adherence to the rules is expected of every MP and the offence becomes far more serious if a person aspiring to become the President of India knowingly violates these rules, the leaders said, while urging the Speaker to refer the issue to the Ethics Committee or Privileges Committee of Parliament.

Mr Malhotra said the Speaker assured the delegation that he would look into the contents of the memorandum and take appropriate action.

UNI