To
The Chief Justice at Hyderabad High Court
Banks of Moosi Nadi,
Near Government City College,
Hyderabad
Dear Chief Justice at Hyderabad High Court,
Sub: Recover funds misused/diverted by CM of Telangana spent on chadar for Ajmer Dargah on 28 February 2020. This squandering of public money is an unconstitutional act. It amounts to pursuing personal religious desires through public money.
Ref.
1. ‘“Ghilaf” to be presented at Ajmer Dargah Shrine celebrations on behalf of the Telangana State government has been handed over by Chief Minister Sri K. Chandrashekar Rao.
2. Our earlier representation to High Court thru email on 22 February 2017 and 25 February 2015;
3. Our representation and change.org petition submitted at Inward High Court on 27 February 2017;
We urge you to kindly peruse our appeal petition for protecting public funds only and only for public welfare.
A. Chief Minister of Telangana used precious public funds on 28 February 2020 for sending ‘Ghilaf’ to Ajmer Dargah celebrations on behalf of the government of Telangana’.
CM is not mandated to pursue his personal desires through public money. He indulges in religious pursuits that are a purely private domain of any individual. He is in the habit of pursuing all his ‘religious desires’ with public money and setting a pattern of unconstitutional conduct to the people and to the entire political spectrum.
How is any Telangana citizen benefitted by sending chadar to Ajmer dargah is the question that CM is bound to answer to the public and to the court?
Pictures below from CMO Telangana official page:
B. Earlier through our e-representations of 25 February 2015 and 22 February 2017 we brought this to the threshold of the High Court through inward department but the mindless squandering of the CM continues to this day. This is the 6th time since 2015 that CM of Telangana is sending ‘Chadar to Ajmer Dargah’ and also ‘nazrana (cash)’ through IAS officers and his party political representatives from the Waqf board and Minorities Department. All the Chadar expenditure and travel expenditure of all official and politicians has been through public money!
We had also approached the High court twice through PILs in 2017 and 2018 to stop the Dawat Iftar on which hundreds of crores have been splurged since 2015 onwards till 2019.
C. Chief Secretary of Telangana has become CM-bound rather than being duty-bound and constitution-bound and participates in the ‘Ajmer Dargah Chadar’ during his duty time.
While crores of citizens of Hyderabad and Telangana still lack basic amenities and our environmental degradation and economic disparities are on an upward spiral, such embarrassing loot of public money in the face of the desperately needy public is all the more reprehensible, to say the least.
As there is a serious trespass on pubic funds by CM of Telangana.
Our prayer at the threshold of the High Court:
- Recover the money expended from public funds by the CM of Telangana on Ajmer Dargah Chadar for all the years from 2015 to 2020,
- Recover funds from officials/public representatives who travel to Ajmer, to give Chadar at Ajmer Dargah at public expense at the instance of CM of Telangana.
- Proceed against authorities, CM, ministers who dared to use public money and they should undertake not to squander public funds from minorities head of budget towards following their personal religious pursuits such as Ajmer Dargah Chadar and Dawat Iftaar. These are purely personal religious pursuits and CM or any leader may participate as their private affair at their private expense.
The above prayer is to set a deterrent and example for future governance and public morality. Why would not an employee be corrupt when corruption is so brazen at the top-most level of governance?
Best,
Dr Lubna Sarwath, State Gen Secy, Socialist Party (India),
Janab Maqbool Mateen, President, United Citizens Forum,
