Published On : Tue, Oct 25th, 2016

Charity Commissioner bars use of present or former PMs’ names for registration of new body!!

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Nagpur: If reports are to be believed, the office of Charity Commissioner in Nagpur, has sparked a controversy by issuing a diktat barring use of name or surname of present or former Prime Ministers for registration any trust or organization. In simple words, the trust or organization that wants to register with Charity Commissioner’s office should not be named after present or former Prime Ministers. The office says the directive is in accordance with the Central Government ordinance issued recently. But when pressed for displaying the copy of the ordinance or its date of issuance, the office fumbles.

One of the officials in the office of Charity Commissioner, Nagpur, Chopda says that if a trust or organization is named after present or former Prime Ministers then the trust or organization should clarify whether the organization or office-bearers related to him or them.

According to sources, the office of Charity Commissioner lately has been found putting the applicants in a fix by finding flaws in their registration applications at the submission level itself. The rules say that the office first accept the registration applications and later at a specific date call the applicants for consultations or objections. If not satisfied then the applications could be rejected outright. But this official named Chopda finds faults with the applications right at the time of submission itself.

As far as use of names of present or former Prime Ministers is concerned for registration of new trusts or organizations, the office of Charity Commissioner says that the nomenclature resembles the names of Prime Ministers and “orders” the applicants to first procure no objection from the top guns. The tactic is nothing but to harass the applicants in one way or the other, of course for obvious reasons. It is a known fact that there is no monopoly over one’s name or surname. A person can register his or her organization after any personality as his or her inspiration. Earlier also, umpteen number of trusts or organizations were named after Prime Ministers that too without their consent. But today, power equations have changed and so are the rules of Charity Commissioner!! The latest diktat from the high-profile office smacks of nefarious designs aimed at “harassing” the applicants no end.

In sum, what would be the outcome if a person becomes Prime Minister at a later date after whose name a trust or organization was formed? Will that trust or organization forced to bundle out?

–Rajeev Ranjan Kushwaha (rajeev.nagpurtoday@gmail.com)