Osho foundation denied permission to sell 2 plots
The office of the Charity Commissioner has halted Osho International Foundation (OIF), currently in-charge of Pune’s famed Osho Commune, from selling two plots measuring around 9,800 sq metres in upscale Koregaon Park to industrialist Rajivnayan Rahulkumar Bajaj
The office of the Charity Commissioner has halted Osho International Foundation (OIF), currently in-charge of Pune’s famed Osho Commune, from selling two plots measuring around 9,800 sq metres in upscale Koregaon Park to industrialist Rajivnayan Rahulkumar Bajaj.
The Charity Commissioner’s office in a December 7 order has also asked OIF to return ₹50 crores it has taken as the first part payment from industrialist Rajivnayan Rahulkumar Bajaj and Rishab family trust, which is controlled by the family of India’s auto industrialist, without interest.
The joint charity commissioner has also ordered a special audit of the OIF affairs between 2005 and 2023 to be conducted by a team of two special auditors to be appointed by the concerned assistant charity commissioner, greater Mumbai region, within one month from the date of the order.
This newspaper has seen the said order from the joint charity commissioner-I, Mumbai, Ruby Malvankar. It comes after a rival group opposed the sale of Osho land.
The order from the joint charity commissioner states: “As far as the present application is concerned, the applicant trust (OIF) cannot be said to have made out grave and compelling necessity to permit the proposed alienation in the form of assignment of leasehold rights or by any other lawful transaction they may want to enter into for the alienation of leasehold trust property to the proposed purchaser, Rajivnayan Rahulkumar Bajaj and Rishab Family Trust.”
The order further states that the applicant trustee, Mukesh Sarda, had avoided commenting on several important aspects of accounting and financial entries and had failed and neglected to clarify important details. On the contrary, he had given vague and irresponsible answers to several questions on accounting details. Therefore, considering the financial deterioration of OIF, there is a necessity calling for an overall scrutiny of the ledgers, books of accounts and other accounting entries and the holding of a special audit therefore under section 33(4) of the MPT Act. The scrutiny is required to be carried out for the past number of years, at least from 2005 till date, in order to enable the special auditor to submit detailed and exhaustive reports.
The order directs trustees, managers and/or any other persons looking after the accounts of the OIF to make available all the records and books of accounts, receipt books, vouchers, ledgers etc. to the special auditors during the said period and cooperate with the auditors in all respects. The special auditors will submit their consolidated report to the authority within a period of six months from the date of their appointment.
Responding to the order, OIF spokesperson, Maa Sadhana, said, “We will follow the legal process with regards to the charity commissioner’s latest order.”
The OIF, in its application, had contended that considering the financial crisis, the trust is constrained to alienate its rights in the said property which will become a good income source for the OIF and it was so thought fit in the meeting of the governing body of the OIF held on July 20, 2020. Accordingly, the OIF, through its legal adviser, caused issuance and publication of a tender notice on September 1, 2020 in the daily newspapers, inviting offers in sealed envelopes from the public at large for acquisition of rights in the said property.
The OIF simultaneously also obtained a valuation report dated October 20, 2020 from a private valuer who valued the said property at Rs921,100,000. The trustees of OIF had filed the application under section 36(1)(a) of the Maharashtra Public Trust Act, 1950, seeking sanction for alienation of the OIF’s immoveable property located at Koregaon Park.
In its application, the OIF had contended that with regard to the situation in India and around the world and the uncertainty about the continuation of the Covid-19 effect, it would not be possible to restart meditation activities in the near future and that has severely affected the cash flow of OIF leading it to a dire need for funds to meet its financial obligations and a situation has arisen, whereby the OIF will not have any income for a long period of time but there will be fixed costs of maintaining the premises and the properties.
In response to its public notice, the OIF received three offers. Upon discussion, the OIF found the offer from Rajivnayan Rahulkumar Bajaj and Rishab Family Trust suitable to its object and purpose and hence, passed a resolution on Nov 30, 2020 unanimously agreeing to alienate its rights to the successful bidder and accordingly entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) dated December 8, 2020 with Rajivnayan Bajaj, who also paid an earnest amount of Rs50 crores by demand draft in compliance with the condition mentioned in the public notice.
Welcoming the joint charity commissioner’s December 7, 2023 order rejecting the OIF’s application seeking permission for the sale of both its properties estimated to be worth around Rs107 crores, advocates Tinesh Shahani, Mukesh Shah and Vaibhav Mehta, who represent the objectors, issued a joint statement terming the order as landmark and historic.
“The decision to sell the plots was taken without the charity commissioner’s permission. The entire aim was to destroy the legacy of Osho and the greenery in the Koregaon Park area. The OIF trustees who have remained the trustees of OIF since the last around 30 years or thereabouts have formed shell private limited companies and become directors of such companies. They formed these shell companies in order to divert the income of the one-time rich OIF to cause wrongful gain to themselves. We showed the number of entries in the audited statement of accounts of the pre-pandemic era as well as the pandemic era and post-pandemic era up to 2023,” the advocates’ joint statement said.