ANNUAL REPORT & AUDIT REPORT
FOR THE YEAR 2003-2004
During the year under report COMMON CAUSE continued to pursue its activities and programmes for redressal of common and collective problems of the people and their amelioration by taking them mp up with the concerned authorities. COMMON CAUSE has continued to pursue its activities in making use of the instrument of public Interest Litigation (PIL) by filing writ petitions in the supreme court , Delhi High court and before National consumer Disputes Redressal commission. The present account is a comprehensive presentation of the writ petitions filed earlier which are still pending, and also of recently filed petitions in the supreme court and Delhi High court.
CASES IN SUPREME COURT OF INDIA:
MPS LOCAL AREA DEVEA DEVELOPMENT FUND: In this writ petition we have sought direction for scrapping the scheme due to the alleged misuse of funds as brought out by the comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) in his Reports. We have also resisted the demand of MPS to enhance the fund from the present RS 2.0 crore to RS 3-4 crore .
APPOINTMENT OF LOK PAL AND LOK AYUKTAS: writ petition relates to enactment of Lok pal Bill. And ensuring appointment of all Lok Ayuktas under the Legal services Authorities Act. The writ petition continues pending. The petition has been listed 29 times. The Lok pal Bill is reported to have now been finalized and referred to the standing committee of parliament and may be placed before the parliament shortly.
NON- PERFORMING ASSETS (NPAS) : THE Apex court has issued interim orders, and the Government has enacted legislation to help the hanks to ease realization of out standing loans. The Banks are claiming that the percentage of NPAS is coming down. Has inter alia stated that new lines are approved as populist measures, and the safety measures are ignored on the plea of non-availability of funds. During hearing of our writ petition the court observed that there was no use extending the lines for traveling without even securing the safety of the passengers who traveled on the existing lines. The Govt. of India has since sanctioned a non- lapsing fund of RS 17.000 crores for safety measures. The petition was finally disposed of on 23. 1. 2004 after the Railways issuedfiled a white paper. The court felt that the relief which could have been granted by their Lordships was substantially taken care of by the white paper.
FAKE UNIVERSITIES AND BOGUS TEACHING INSTITUTIONS: proliferation of fake universities and bogus teaching institutions has become a menace, affecting the careers of a large number of aspiring young students. It is satisfying to note that the university Grants commission (UGC) and All India council for Technical Education have started taking some remedial measures by issuing suitable press notices warning the public about fake institutions. And advising the institutions universities to upgrade their infrastructural facilities. UGC is reportedly working on enactment of a new Act having more teeth.
CRIME AND VIOLENCE ON T.V. : There is large dose of crime violence and sex in some of the programmes being put forth by certain TV channels. Our Writ Petition is yet pending. The Ministry is claiming that steps are being taken to control depiction of too much crime, violence and sex in the TV programmes. The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting is also espousing self-regulations and introspection by various channels in regard to content of their programme.
LAWYER’S STRIKE : The Apex Court has held that legal professionals had no right to go on strike as the these affect the Fundamental Rights of the Litigants. The court further observed that the weapon of strike does more harm than good, and our Petition along with a bunch of other petition in the matter, was disposed of.
SLAUGHTER HOUSES – POLLUTION : This Petition related to environmental pollution due to unhygienic and filthy practices adopted in the Slaughter Houses at various places in the country. The Petition is pending.
MAINTENANCE OF ACCOUNTS &SUBMISSION OF ANNUAL AUDIT REPORTS BY POLITICAL PARTIES : This Writ Petition was decided by Supreme Court in 1999 and directions were issued to Governmental authorities. We have written to all recognized political parties and have again taken the matter to Court, for contempt proceedings and further necessary action because of continuing failure of most parties to comply with requirements of the law in the matters.
RITUAL OF BURYING OF CHILDREN IN SOME VILLAGES OF TAMILNADU : This ugly ritual of burying grown-up children, for short while, for propitiating some Gods and Goddesses, has been brought before the Court in a Writ Petition. As soon as the notice was issued, the Government of Tamilnadu promulgated an ordinance and converted it into a law, “The Tamil Nadu prohibition of Rituals and Practice of Burying Alive of a Person Act, 2002” The law stipulates: “No person shall bury a person alive, allow himself to be buried alive, and no person” shall officiate or offer to officiate or perform or offer to perform or service assist or participate” in a ritual in which a person is buried alive and retrieved.
DELHI RENT ACT : This Writ Petition was initially filed earlier years ago in Delhi High Court for issue of directions to the government to issue notification implementing the Delhi Rent Act. 1995, Which was passed by the parliament and assented to by the President of India. On disinclination of Delhi High Court to issue directions, a Writ Petition was filed in the Supreme Court of India. The Apex Court has, unfortunately, rejected our appeal recently. We have since filed Review Petition.
LARGE SCALE ADVETISEMENTS : It is a common practice that advertisement of various sizes are inserted in newspaper and magazines projecting image of political parties/politicians at huge cost to the exchequer. We have sought directions of the Apex Court to stop the practices The Hon’ble Court has since issued notices to the Respondents. We filed another application praying for preponing the hearing in view of the fact that huge amount continued to be spent by the Government on political advertisements due to approaching general election. The case is yet to be listed. Meanwhile, Election Commission has taken note of this practice and has advocated caution in the matter.
FUNCTIOINING OF SOME AIRPORTS : Huge investments have been made in setting up some of the Airports as populist measure though these are economically univable. Some of these airports are not functioning. However, nothing substantial is being done to upgrade infrastrctural facilities and passenger amenities of world standards at Delhi, Mumbai airports etc. the Government is now planning to privatize some airports.
AIDS CONTROL MEASUERS : Huge funds are allotted/receives by the National Aids Control organization (NACO) for educating people to control the spread of this disease, and for taking preventive measures. The funds are reportedly not being used properly. There is lack of effective monitoring system. The Apex Court has issued notices to the Respondents. In response the Union Minister of Health has filed a comprehensive affidavit through NACO.
JUMBO CABINET IN UTTAR PRADESH : A jumbo cabinet was installed in U.P. after the fall of Mayawati Government we sought limits to be imposed on the sizes of Cabinets to 15% of the strength of legislature, and automatic disqualification of a defector to hold any offices, has now been passed by the Parliament, the Act has come into force w.e.f. July, 2004.
EDUCATION OF POOR CHILDREN : Though the education to children between the age of 3 to 14 has been made a Fundamental Right. Steps to achieve the same have not been put in place. We have taken this matter to the Supreme Court.
ROAD ACCIDENTS : Fatalities in road accidents on Indian roads are reported to be about 80,000 annually. Lives are lost daily in road accidents, both on Highways and in cities. Some of the fatal accidents are due to delay in provision of prompt medical aid etc. We have sought co-ordinated approach from all concerned agencies, improvement of licensing procedure and proper training of drivers.
TWO-CHILD NORM : The Supreme Court of India had recently upheld the provision of two-child norm for Sarpanches in the Haryana Panchayati Raj Act. We have suggested in a Writ Petition to the Supreme Court that similar provision be incorporated in Panchayati Raj Act of other States. We have also written to the Secretary General, Rajya Sabha, requesting that the Bill to encourage two-child norm which has been pending for the last six years, for placement before the Rajya Sabha.
CASES IN DELHI HIGH COURT
INFRASTRUCTURAL FACILITIES IN BURNS WARDS OF SAFDARJUNG HOSPITAL : During the last hearing, the Delhi High Court had summoned Health Secretaries of the Union and Delhi State Govt. to explain why the amount allocated for upgrading Safdarjung Hospital’s Burns Wards has not been spent. The Hon’ble Court also directed Government to inform it how the Burns Wards could be brought up to international standards.
MENACE OF STRAY CATLE, DOGS AND MONKEYS : The High Court of Delhi has issued series of directions, including relocation of illegal dairies, increase in number of vehicles engaged in impounding cattle and filling of quarterly progress reports with coordination among MCD/NDMC and DCP of the area. The MCD has since increased the fine for stray cattle from Rs. 1,400 to Rs. 5,000. During the last hearing on 15th April, 2004, the Delhi High Court directed private power companies to disconnect electricity supply to unauthorized dairies operating in the city. The Hon’ble Court also directed the police to assist these companies who complained that the dairies continue to steal electricity. The MCD Commissioner assured the court about solving the problem. The MCD undertook to start implementing the orders of the Court w.e.f. 27-5-2004. Whereas the impounded cows will be accommodated in Gowshalas, including those located in the States of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, the buffaloes would be auctioned with the condition that these will not be resold in Delhi. The MCD that it will remove 40 dairies per week. There are 2718 unauthorised dairies in Delhi. The MCD has to give an action plan for the purpose of removal of illegal dairies, and stray cattle to the High Court by Ist July, 2004. Following this, they have to submit a status report every 3 weeks to the Court.
CONDITOIN OF MORTUARIES : Petition was filed for improvement of conditions in the Mortuaries. The Delhi High Court imposed a fine of Rs. 20,000 on the Union Govt. when its Advocate did not appear on the date of hearing, and for its failure to implement the recommendations of the Committee appointed to improve the conditions of Mortuaries in Government hospitals in the city, the fine amount would be used by the city government for renovation of the Mortuaries.
HOARDINGS : Petition has been filed against illegal placement of over-sized Advertisements and Cut-outs on bus-stops, electricity poles and other such places, it is yet pending.
SALE OF SPURIOUS DRUGS : On our Writ Petition, the Delhi High Court ordered the Mashelkar Committee which was constituted to look into the menace, to file a report. The petition is yet pending.
OTHER IMPORTANT ACTIVITIES
COMMON CAUSE continued to take up various issues of public interest through various channels.
We had filed a Writ Petition (2693 of 2002) in the High Court of Delhi seeking directions to Respondents (Municipal Corporation of Delhi and others) to take early decision for introduction of Unit Area Method (U.A.M.) for assessment of Property Tax which COMMON CAUSE had been advocating for a number of years. The Respondents had then filed an Affidavit stating inter alia that steps were being taken to remedy the defects (in the system) and to adopt the U.A.M. It is encouraging to state that the MCD has since implemented the U.A.M. w.e.f. 1-4-2004. They have also appointed a Hardships and Anomalise Committee to redress various grievances.
In January, 2004, we published a small booklet bringing out some of the achievements of our country, and suggesting overcoming of various deficiencies, shortcoming and inadequacies. The burning issues relating to corruption, criminalisaton of politics, working of legislatures, political funding etc. were highlighted. The booklet was sent to all the Parliamentarians with the exhortation that the people repose their faith in politicians who, at the Centre and in the States, will pursue the task of taking the country forward and also to make positive efforts to enable the country to enter the era of communal harmony and to overcome the problems of casteism, of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and inter-tribal conflicts.
FINANCE & ACCOUNTS
Audit Report on Accounts of COMMON CAUSE SOCIETY and COMMON CAUSE TRUST for the year ending 31st March, 2004, has been received, its main portions i.e. balance sheet and income & expenditure statement are attached.
It will be noticed that Corpus Fund of COMMON CAUSE SOCIETY stands at Rs. 41,00 lacs and Life Membership Fund at Rs. 912 lacs. The Building Fund of COMMON CAUSE TRIST is Rs. 83.0 lacs. There was a deficit of Rs. 2,26,110/- during the year in functioning of the SOCIETY deficit is lower than last year when it stood at Rs. 2,62,128/-. This is despite the fact that income has come down by Rs. 82,000/- on account of lower rates of interest. The expenditure this year was lower by Rs. 89,314/- than last year. The TRUST yielded a surplus of Rs. 7,64,203/- Thus, overall we had a net surplus of Rs. 5,38,092/- A part of this surplus has been earmarked for computerization, opening website etc.
There has been a drop in the interest income of the SOCIETY on Fixed Deposits, particularly those kept with the Steel Authority of India Ltd. The SAIL has stopped renewing our Fixed Deposit Receipts, and is returning the investments on maturity. The rates of interest of Banks, in general, have also come down. Efforts are being made to find alternative permitted sources of investment which can yield higher income.
There is no significant change in the expenditure on various heads of accounts. The main items of expenditure are salaries, printing and stationary and water & electricity. The staff strength remains the same as last year. No remuneration is drawn by the Director. The expenditure on printing and stationery, and on postage for dispatch of our quarterly Journal to members, is reimbursed by the German Foundation FNST.
Through the gracious help of Goodearth Foundation we were able to construct COMMON CAUSE HOUSE in the Institutional Area, on Nelson Manela Rod, Vasant Kunj. From the Audit Report of COMMON CAUSE TRUST it will be noticed that two floors of the building which are on rent, fetch monthly rent of Rs. 1, 70,000/- The expenditure from TRUST A/c is towards Property Tax. Sub-letting and ground rent charges paid to DDA.
AUDITORS REPORT
We have audited the attached Balance Sheet of Common Cause (‘the Society’) as at March, 31, 2004 and also the Income and Expenditure Account for the year ended on that date annexed thereto after incorporating the accounts of the Common Cause Trust (‘the Trust’). These financial statements are the responsibility of the Management of the Soceity/the Trust. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audit.
We conducted our audit in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in India. Those Standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
We report that :
i. We have obtained all the information and explanation, which to the best our knowledge and belief were necessary for the purpose of our audit.
ii. In our opinion, proper books of account as required by law have been kept by the Society/the Trust so far as appears from our examination of those books.
iii. The Balance Sheet and the income and Expenditure Account dealt with by this report are in agreement with the books of account, and
iv. It is the policy of the Society/the Trust to prepare its financial statements on the cash receipts and disbursements basis except interest on fixed deposits/bank deposit which is accrued every year. On this basis, revenue and the related assets are recognized when received rather than when earned, and expenses are recognized when paid rather tan when the obligation is incurred. In our opinion and to the best o our information and according to the explanations given to us, the said accounts given a true and fair true and fair view in conformity with the accounting principles generally accepted in India.
a. in the case of the Balance Sheet, of the state of affairs of the Society/ the Trust as at March, 31, 2004, and
b. in the case of the Income and Expenditure Account, of the Deficit in The Society, and Surplus in the Trust for the year ended on that date.
For VKGN & Associates
Chartered Accounts
Vijay Gupta
Membership No. F81986
Place : New Delhi
Date : 31.07.2004
