Anita Katyal
The Times of India
May 26, 1999
Title: IGNCA's fate hangs in balance as Centre hardens stand Author: Anita Katyal Publication: The Times of India Date: May 26, 1999 One fall-out of the ongoing battle between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress party has been the government's hardening stand on the future of the prestigious Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), headed by Sonia Gandhi, which has been in the eye of a storm for some time now. In a counter-affidavit filed in the Delhi high court on a public interest litigation (PIL), the BJP-led government has gone as far to say it would even take over the Centre's property, including the land on which it stands. The government's position is based on the attorney-general's opinion on the unilateral decision of the IGNCA Trust amending the original trust deed making six of the board members life-time trustees. This includes Congress president Ms Sonia Gandhi, who heads the IGNCA. Other founder trustees whose term was thus extended include former president R. Venkatraman, former prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao and former information adviser to the prime minister H.Y. Sharda Prasad. According to the original trust deed, the term of the trustees was ten years but this was amended to make them life-time trustees. The original trust deed had also said that any amendments in the deed must first be approved by the government. This stipulation was also deleted. Set up by the Centre as a national institution to promote arts, the IGNCA has been allocated a sprawling 21-acre plot of land near the Central Vista and has, so far, been given Rs 84 crore for its building and activities. Former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi was originally the IGNCA president but after his death, this position went to Ms Sonia Gandhi. Solicitor-general Soli Sorabjee, consulted by the human resource development (HRD) ministry, is learnt to have maintained the changes introduced by the IGNCA Trust were "not validly made", having no scope in the eyes of the law and that "the unamended provisions of the trust deed continue to be operative." It was further stated that since the original trust deed was approved by the cabinet, any changes in it also required cabinet approval, which was not done in this case. Sources in the HRD ministry explained this really means the present IGNCA trust does not exist since the ten-year term of the present trustees ended in 1995. The government's affidavit says this legal position was explained to the trust but there has been no response to its two letters. It also says the Centre "will take all necessary steps and proceedings to protect the interests of the government in respect of the moveable and immoveable properties made available by the government to the IGNCA, including resumption of the land if required." Although the IGNCA controversy has been brewing for months now, the BJP-led government had been lying low on it. However, the power equations at the Centre have resulted in the BJP-led government adopting this aggressive posture. While the government was dithering on the issue, emissaries from the IGNCA camp, had even met HRD minister Murli Manohar Joshi in this connection. Former prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao was reported to have got in touch with Mr Joshi while former finance minister Manmohan Singh is believed to have met the HRD minister twice over in this connection. Mr Rao is a life-time trustee and Mr Singh a coopted trustee on the IGNCA board.
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