BJP legislator says can’t return ’scam’ money

GANDHINAGAR - BJP legislator Shankar Chaudhari, who is allegedly embroiled in a scam of misusing Rs.61 lakh from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF), submitted in the Gujarat High Court Wednesday that he is unable to pay back the disputed money.

Chaudhari, who is a Bharatiya Janata Party legislator from Radhanpur in north Gujarat, submitted before the high court that the money was deposited directly with the National Buildings Construction Company.

Neither any trustee of Swami Vivekananda Vikas Mandal nor he was involved in the transaction, he claimed.

Farsu Goklani had filed a public interest litigation in the Gujarat High Court, charging Chaudhari with fraudulent use of the money obtained from the PMNRF and alleged that he had obtained the amount for repairing a school which was damaged during the 2001 earthquake.

The school was run by Chaudhari’s trust under the name of Swami Vivekananda Vikas Mandal. However, the school building was owned by a different trust - Sarvodaya Arogya Nidhi.

The PIL alleged that Chaudhari had diverted the money to his own trust and then bought land. The school of his trust is now situated on this land.

The Gujarat High Court March 19 directed Chaudhari to file his submission by April 7 whether he intended to deposit the disputed money with interest or not. A division bench of Chief Justice S.J. Mukhopadhya and Justice Akil Qureshi had observed that there was a “scam” somewhere in the case.

After Chaudhari’s submission Wednesday, the high court has issued notices to other trustees of Swami Vivekananda Vikas Mandal.