New Delhi: J&K lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha’s office “instructed” the Union territory administration to fund a “personal function” that was held in Lutyens Delhi, reportedly on the eve of his son’s engagement ceremony in 2021, The Wire has learned.
Two months later, when Sinha’s office didn’t pay the bill, Neeraj Kumar, the additional resident commissioner of Jammu and Kashmir in New Delhi, shot a letter to the Raj Bhawan to “settle the issue” of non-payment of over Rs 10 lakh that was spent in making arrangements for the function at the upscale 7 Akbar Road bungalow in the national capital.
Sinha has since made the payment, Kumar told The Wire, adding: “It is an internal matter which is being misinterpreted and blown out of proportion. This is an attempt to defame the LG sir. I have nothing more to say on this.”
The Wire has reached out to Raj Bhawan and IAS officer Nitishwar Kumar, then principal secretary in LG’s office to whom the letter was addressed, for comment. This story will be updated as and when a response is received.
Legal experts and others argue that the instruction from the LG’s office constitutes an instance of “constitutional impropriety” and “misappropriation of public funds”. Senior IAS officer Ashok Parmar has demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the matter while the J&K Congress has asked the LG to come clean on the matter.
LG MANOJ SINHA JAWAD DO ! pic.twitter.com/7PYujsQKib
— J&K Congress (@INCJammuKashmir) July 5, 2024
While refusing to comment on the matter, former J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah alleged that the Raj Bhawan has “continuously used the government funds” for the “comfort” of the lieutenant governor.
“Whether with the vehicles bought for him, the private jets chartered for him, the crores spent for his ‘guests’, he (LG) treats J&K as his fiefdom which is apparent from the way the traffic is stopped for 25-30 minutes so his highness can travel without any holdup,” Omar told The Wire.
J&K’s former law secretary Ashraf Mir has alleged that this was a case of “brazen violation” by the head of the Union territory and a “clear-cut case of misappropriation of public funds”.
“Since J&K is a Union territory, whatever funds are drawn from the Consolidated Fund of India must be approved by parliament and spent on state welfare or public interest functions. A personal function does not fall within the ambit of either,” Mir told The Wire.
Referring to the law on the subject, senior advocate Nazir Ahmad Ronga said that only those functions which are related to elevating the system are allowed to be financed by the government.
“These matters are first discussed and a decision is taken on whether a particular department can go ahead with such an expense. The financial code does not support the funding of personal functions. Whether that has been done remains to be seen,” said Ronga, former president of the Jammu and Kashmir high court bar association.
The issue dates back to 2021 when lieutenant governor Sinha’s son, Abhinav Sinha, got married.
According to reports, Sinha had skipped the marriage function, which took place on June 24, 2021, to attend the all-party meeting which was called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the first after Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated and demoted into a Union territory.
But in February that year, a function related to junior Sinha’s marriage was held at 7 Akbar Road, a Type VIII bungalow which is normally allotted to high-profile government functionaries including the Lok Sabha speaker and Cabinet ministers.
Owned by the J&K government, 7 Akbar Road used to be the official residence of the chief minister in Delhi when Jammu and Kashmir was a state. After the Article 370 decision by the Union government, it has become the address of J&K LG in the national capital.
Some reports indicate that the ‘personal function’ was organised for the engagement ceremony of Sinha’s son. However, The Wire couldn’t immediately verify the report.
In an official communication on April 6, 2021, to LG’s then principal secretary Nitishwar Kumar, which has been obtained by The Wire, J&K’s resident commissioner in New Delhi, said that arrangements were made at 7 Akbar Road on February 2, 2021 for “lunch and dinner for 120 people and decorations” on the “instructions” of LG Sinha’s office.
“The total payment amounting to Rs. 1071605/= (Ten Lac seventy-one thousand six hundred five only) was done by this office. This being personal function, it is requested to kindly arrange and deposit the said amount in the treasury to settle the issue,” the letter noted.
Letter from J&K’s resident commissioner in New Delhi to principal secretary in Raj Bhawan
Under the rules, the salary and emolument of a lieutenant governor are at par with the secretary-level officer in the government of India, chief secretaries of state governments and the vice-chief of the army staff, all of whom fall in Level 17 of the Central Pay Matrix.
A governor is entitled to “entertainment allowance” for “patronising art, culture and music”, ‘hospitality grant’ for “meeting hospitality expenses of official guests, “office expenses allowance” to pay telephone charges, service postage, books and periodicals, stationery and printing and other “miscellaneous” expenses, according to official rules.
Mir, the former law secretary, said that some funds are put at the disposal of state heads under hospitality and protocol which they can use to organise seminars, conferences and other events aimed at the promotion of state interests.
“Whatever has happened is legally untenable, a brazen violation and a case of likely misappropriation of public funds,” Mir said, adding that the funds expended from the Consolidated Fund by the state head have to get legislative approval.
