The Bangalore Metro Reporter
THE HERO OF A DOUBLE ROLE!
DOUBLE NAME AND SIGNATURES OF EX-KPSC SECRETARY M N GURURAJ RAO, CAN A SERIOUS OFFENCE BE CLOSED BY AN AFFIDAVIT?
M.N.Gururaja Rao who recently retired as Assistant Secretary in KPSC, used to operate and function as M.N.Gururaj in Lokseva Housing Society in the capacity of Hon. Secretary for the last so many years. On the face of it, it is a criminal offence for a government servant to use two names - one for his government service and another for Housing Co-op. Society where crores of rupees are involved. As long as he was in KPSC, Gururaj managed to hush up his double name and double signature. And the KPSC Secretary V.B.Patil acting on the affidavit of Gururaj stating that both the names - MN Gururaj and M.N.Gururaja Rao are one and the same, has closed the case! This is simply unprecedented...
M.N.Gururaja Rao, till recently the Assistant Secretary in KPSC, is also the Hon. Secretary of the Lokaseva employees Housing Co-operative Society. The Society was floated by the employees of the Commission, who number around 300. The Society after allotting sites to the members of the Commission should have been winded up as it had served its purpose of providing sites to the employees of the commission. But the society is into real estate business in a big way. It has formed thousands of sites to be sold to general public by soliciting deposits from the public and workers of factories promising sites.
And MN Gururaja Rao is operating in the name of M.N.Gururaj, officially in the Society. A government official, as a rule can not use different names except the official name. The official name in the records of the Commission is M.N.Gururaja Rao. As such he cannot use any other name except his official name any where, let alone the Housing Co-op. Society. But he is using the name of M.N.Gururaj in the society affairs.
There were complaints against Gururaj for using double names but he managed to keep all the complaints under wraps. One such complaint was given to the Home Secretary who in turn referred the matter to the KPSC for a report and action. V.B.Patil, the IAS official who has come to the Commission as the Secretary for the second time, is also dependent on Gururaj. Allegedly, Patil also has his own share of scams in KPSC and as such he has to protect Gururaj. A report therefore was sent by Patil to the Home Secretary white washing the offence of Gururaj. If one takes a look at Patil’s report, one will be surprised at the level the officials go to protect Gururaj.
In fact, Patil has admitted that MN Gururaja Rao was using the name MN Gururaj in the affairs of the society. He exceeds his brief by stating that he was known as MN Gururaj by everybody in KPSC and that is why he had used ‘MN Gururaj’ in the society. As both MN Gururaja Rao and MN Gururaj is one and the same, as such there is no offence. Patil further states that Gururaj had submitted an affidavit sworn before the Notary stating that he uses both the names. MN Gururaja Rao in KPSC and MN Gururaj in the Society and so there is no offence whatsoever. Patil goes on to mention that the complainant Suresh Jain who was also a member of the society has not objected to the practice in the post. He then provides ‘clean chit’ to Gururaj as far as the society is concerned and states that the society has distributed sites to the members after following all the legal formalities!
One should ‘pity’, Patil does not know the facts or is suppressing it in his zeal to protect Gururaj. Had he taken a cursory glance at the society affairs, he would have realised that Gururaj’s very functioning as Hon.Secretary is illegal as the Co-op. Act and Rules does not allow anybody to hold Honorary Secretary post! The law stipulates that only ‘Paid Secretary’ should work in the Society!
Whatsoever, Patil has made an appeal to the Home Secretary to close the complaint in view of the affidavit submitted by Gururaj. After committing the offence for all these 20 years, Gururaj submits an affidavit proclaiming that he uses both the names. This is only an afterthought. Merely submitting an affidavit does not absolve him of the crime he committed all these years. If one were to take a look at his signatures as MN Gururaj Rao as Assistant Secretary in KPSC and MN Gururaj as Secretary of the Housing Society, one can make out difference.
Patil has not answered the basic question, whether a government official can use different names and signatures? Even though there is the absence of ‘Rao’ in the other name, this is significant. Even if a customer wants to slightly change his signature in a Bank, he has to submit the new signature. If a person has to alter or change his name, he has to submit an affidavit before he changes to other name. In case of government servants, the alteration - change has to be gazetted, not once but many times.
More than anything, Gururaj should have obtained permission from the Commission before he shortened his name in the society affairs. As such the offence becomes serious as it is done knowingly.
Interestingly, the Lokaseva Housing Co-op. Society President had also addressed a letter to the Secretary of the commission (Patil) stating that only the word ‘Rao’ was left out from the records of the Society! This is absurd as right from the registration of the society to registration of sale deeds in favour of purchasers, it is the same ‘MN Gururaj’ all the way. One can not even imagine that an educated government servant will go to the extent of using the official name with ‘Rao’ missing in official documents.
The society President B.V.Nagarajaiah allegedly influenced Patil to submit a one sided report to Home Secretary in favour of Gururaj. Infact, Nagarajaiah also has stated that nobody has raised any objection to Gururaj using two names all these years. He too had poured venom against Suresh Jain, the complainant and had dubbed him as mischievous etc.
Patils report to the Home Secretary is suspect. The entire issue revolves round MN Gururaja Rao, an Assistant Secretary in KPSC using another name MN Gururaj while functioning as Hon. Secretary of Lokseva Housing Co-op. Society, which is not permissible in law governing public servants. Patil should have submitted a report only on this point, that is, whether Gururaj is using two names, one in KPSC and another in Housing Society. On the face of it Patil admits the fact that Gururaj is using two names but tries to defend the same. He says that Gururaj is known to everybody as MN Gururaj!
Just because nobody objected to use of two names by Gururaj that does not mean that law should not be allowed to have its way.
That is all.
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