Gurugram registrar to audit books of Central Plaza in 45 days

The office of the state registrar of firms and societies, in Chandigarh, has ordered the local office of district registrar of Gurugram to audit the maintenance account of Central Mall Plaza within 45 days from the receipt of the order.

The office of the state registrar of firms and societies, in Chandigarh, has ordered the local office of district registrar of Gurugram to audit the maintenance account of Central Mall Plaza within 45 days from the receipt of the order. The district registrar’s office will have to submit the compliance report by March 22. The order was issued on February 7.

Central Plaza Mall is a shopping mall located along the Golf Course Road in Sector 53 and houses as many as 60 shops. The property is a ground-plus-three-storey establishment handed to the owners by the builder in 2007. (Sourced)

IS Yadav, district registrar of firms and societies, Gurugram, said, “We will get the audit done as per the direction of the state registrar and submit the report within the stipulated time.”

Central Plaza Mall is a shopping mall located along the Golf Course Road in Sector 53 and houses as many as 60 shops. The property is a ground-plus-three-storey establishment handed to the owners by the builder in 2007.

In 2012-13, the shop owners and tenants formed two different associations that resulted in frequent disputes with each other.

The two associations in question were the Central Plaza Owners’ Welfare Association and the Central Plaza Occupants’ Welfare Association. This ended with the some of the shop owners approaching the registrar’s office to settle the matter.

On the direction of the registrar’s office, the two associations merged into one as the Central Plaza Owners’ Welfare Association in 2013.

“Since then (2013), the executive committee of the association has not conducted an audit of the maintenance funds at all. We pay ₹17/square foot per month as maintenance payment to the association. As such, we have every right to know the details of the income and expenditure of the association,” said Yogesh Saini,a shop owner and one of the complainants.

Saini said, “Fed up with the unenthusiastic response from the executive body of the association, we filed a case with the district registrar’s office. Since then 20 hearings have taken place; however nothing has happened. We then moved to the state registrar’s office in Chandigarh that ordered an inquiry into the matter in December, 2018. We have been demanding transparent audit into the maintenance account for all the financial years since 2013.”

Following the state registrar’s order in December, the district registrar office appointed Sarika Jain as an independent auditor, but later on January 9, the district registrar’s office replaced Jain with another auditor Anil Diwan without the consent of the state registrar.

The order of the state registrar stated, “We set aside the appointment of auditor Anil Diwan done by the district registrar in violation of state registrar order and it must reappoint previous auditor Sarika Jain. The district registrar is hereby ordered to seize all documents of Central Plaza Owners Welfare Association during the audit period and provide all help to Jain to complete the audit in fair manner[sic].”

Ashok Sagwan, secretary industries and commerce, Haryana government, said, “I will surely look into the complaint to resolve the issue at the earliest.”

When asked, Chandroop Singh, treasurer of Central Plaza Owners’ Welfare Association, said, “We will provide all kinds of assistance to the auditor during the audit, however the allegations are false and baseless.”