July 6, 2010
Mr. Pradeep Vijayakar
President,
The Press Club, Mumbai
Sub: Discrepancies in the final voters’ list for 2010 Press Club poll
Dear Mr. Vijayakar,
This is in continuation of a similar letter that I had written to you on July 12, 2008, vide which I had raised the issue of “ineligible members” figuring in the voters’ list for the poll held that year.
Like in the past, I – as an ordinary member -- obtained a copy of the final voters’ list for the Press Club’s 2010 poll from the administration with due permission from the Returning Officer Mr. Vinod Vasudeo, a couple of days after it was put up on the Club's notice board.
Having gone through the final voters’ list for the Club’s 2010 poll, I found that there are 200-odd “new" voters on the rolls for the current poll. I have a very strong reason to believe that of these 200-odd “new members”, many are 'ineligible’ to figure in the final voters’ list.
For your ready reference, I would like to mention the instances of Mr. Pradeep Kumar Pandey (1406) and Ms Sandhya Srinivasan (1416), who , I am told , have not been the club’s members for one year, but have still made it to the final voters’ list for reasons best known to the outgoing managing committee. Though there are several other “new” members who should not have figured the final voters’ list, I am not citing them here for want of space.
I would also like to bring to notice that some other serious discrepancies in the final voters’ list. I am shocked that the names of some ex-journalists Gautam Chakraborty, Mr. Parikshit Joshi and Mr. N Pattabhi – who left the profession a long ago and have been working for PR agencies for over three years now – continue to figure in the final voters’ list.
You may recall, the then chairman of the club membership scrutiny Committee, Mr. Sunil Shivdasani ( now a managing committee member), had served notices on them, two months ahead of the 2008 Club poll, asking them as to why they should continue as members.
The current scrutiny committee, headed by Mr. Dara Pockhanwala, had been mandated by the 2008 AGM to initiate further steps against them.
I am surprised as to why the Pockhanwala-headed Scrutiny committee has not yet initiated action against them. Nor has the outgoing Managing Committee bothered to take a call on the issue despite a mandate to weed out such persons from the membership of the club.
You will agree, we cannot expect to have free and fair Press Club poll, with so many “ineligible” voters on the final electoral rolls.
Under the circumstances, I would request you to clarify the following:
1) Do all the voters listed in the final voters’ list fulfill the criterion stipulated under Article 5 of the Club’s by-laws?
(The Article 5 of the by-laws of the Press Club makes it abundantly clear that ordinary members shall have voting rights only one year after having become member the press club).
2) Have the names of all such members, who are no longer in the journalistic profession and are ineligible to continue as ordinary members of the club with voting rights, been weeded out from the final electoral rolls?
3) Has the Club’s membership review committee, headed by Mr. Dara Pockhanwala, gone through and cleared the final voters’ list before it was put up on the notice board?
While on the subject, I would also like to bring to your notice the casual manner in which the outgoing managing committee has chosen to tamper with the published final voters’ list. As you may also be aware, the final voters’ list was displayed on the Club’s notice board on Wednesday evening of May 12, 2010. On the first evening, the list carried the names of the voters, ending with one Vidya Mishra (membership no 1440).
However, on the following day (May 13, 2010), her name came to be struck off from the list. I came to know later that it was treasurer Rajesh Mascrenhas who had struck off her name and put his small signature on the list put up on the notice board. Two aspects need to be noted here are:
a) Vidya Mishra had become a member on a date almost on the date her figuring in the voters’ list and is not a member in the club for one year as stipulated under Article 5 of the Club bye-laws.
b) With the Returning Officer for the polls having already been appointed, Mr. Mascrenhas had no business to tamper with the published voters’ list. If any corrections were to be done, Mr. Mascrenhas should have requested the Returning Officer to carry out the same in the published voters’ list.
You will also recall that I had also submitted you a letter in 2008 about the “constitutional impropriety” on the part of the managing committee in preparing and displaying the final voters’ list. You have so far not responded formally to my said letter.
Given that the schedule for the Press Club poll is about to be issued, I look forward to receiving clarifications to my above specific queries from your end, before the actual start of the poll process i.e., opening of nominations.
Simultaneously, I request you to exercise your powers as the President of the club to give necessary directions to Mr. Vasudeo, the Poll Returning Officer appointed by the ‘outgoing’ MC, to take all necessary steps to weed out all the “ineligible” members from the final list of voters.
At the same time, I also request you to ensure that the “outgoing” MC adheres to the poll code of conduct.
Thanking you and looking forward to a swift response from your end.
Yours truly,
(CP Jha)
Membership No 388
C/c
Mr. Vinod Vasudeo, Returning Officer (2010 –Press Club poll), The Press Club, Mumbai
Chairman, Membership Scrutiny Committee
Secretary, The Press Club, Mumbai
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