Now, 'letter bomb' makes entry in Lucknow Golf Club turf battle

LUCKNOW: The turf battle at the Lucknow Golf Club (LGC) got murkier with the club committee coming out with what appears to be a script for the perfect Bollywood masala potboiler.
A letter that encapsulates the proceedings of the "controversial" meeting held to "illegally" change the club bylaws carries the name of Mukul Singhal as club president. LGC's honorary secretary, Sandeep Das pointed out that the letter is of March 31, 2019 and bears the timing as 10.30 am."Singhal became president at 9pm that day, so the letterhead itself shows that the bylaws were changed illegally," he said.
Club captain Adesh Seth along with other committee members held a press conference on Monday, stressing that the bylaws were changed in a clandestine manner and sent to the office of the deputy registrar as having been passed by the general body. "Moreover, the letter carries the signature of JPS Sial, who was acting president and did not have the authority to approve the change in bylaws," he said.
"On top of it, Singhal attempted to pass a no-confidence motion to disband the committee itself on Sunday evening (as reported by TOI on Monday), which again is illegal and untenable," Seth said.
A senior club member said that the letter was issued on that day so that Singhal would not have to call another extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to change the bylaws, as it was bound to run into a massive opposition. "The change in bylaws granted free life membership to several influential people, which is completely against the club's policy," he said.
Senior members of the club, including Justice (retd) SC Verma and former DGP SVM Tripathi too have expressed their displeasure against the change in bylaws. In a letter written to Seth, Justice Verma terms giving free membership as "great discrimination" and "objectionable". Tripathi wrote to Singhal earlier on March 13, pointing out that the "full procedure for changes in bylaws has not been followed".
When contacted, Singhal said that quite often such letters are issued on a later date but carry the date of the meeting. It is only a technicality, he said.
"Moreover, it clearly states that it is a copy, an extract of the meeting on March 31, 2019," Singhal said, adding that Sial actually had the authority as he was acting president because the then president Desh Deepak Verma was not in town. "The general body made a decision, why were there no objections in the subsequent meetings?" he asked. "If they want to revert to the original bylaws, they should do so on merit in the general body," he said.
Singhal claimed that the no-confidence motion was approved by an overwhelming majority. "I know I have no authority, I did what the general body wanted," said Singhal.
Das, however, maintained that a 'copy' must be the same as the original and it was merely an attempt to confuse the issue. As far as the no-confidence motion is concerned, obviously there is no provision in the bylaws for it. The committee is there for a period of two years, he said. "If we had such a provision, every now and then some 50 people would move the same. It would be utter chaos," said Das.
"Clearly, they are trying to use strong-arm tactics using their clout and money, otherwise what was the need to throw a dinner and cocktail party on Saturday night? It was a premeditated and calculated attempt to wrest control of the club and cheat the 2,300 members," said a senior member, mentioning about a dinner hosted at a city hotel two days ago where the 'no-confidence motion' was allegedly planned.
"They have given life membership to many people for free, causing a great loss to the club, besides doing it in an illegal manner," said another club member, pointing out that membership costs over Rs 8 lakh.