Mubarak Gul suppressed information; never revealed being MLA, CM’s Advisor: DD

DD Kashir withdrew Advisor’s allotment after ET expose but months later allotted frozen project to his son

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

JAMMU, Dec 10: Scandalously operating Kashir Channel of Doordarshan has finally made it public that the ruling National Conference MLA from Iddgah and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s Advisor, Mubarak Gul, as well as his son and NC’s Councilor in Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC), Younis Gul, had suppressed vital information with regard to their relation, political credentials and being public representatives while seeking contracts worth Rs 48 Lakh from the Government of India subsidiary in 2007-09 period.

In March this year, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s Advisor, Mubarak Gul, was visibly high spirited. He was heard telling everybody around that no amount of media exposure to his fraudulently secured DD Kashir project would affect his trade with the Government of India organisation. His confidence, according to sources, stemmed from the fact that Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Khursheed Ahmed Ganai, would manage to get the certificate of innocence in his favour from Mandi House. Gul’s sympathisers took pride in the fact that, DD’s Director General, Aruna Sharma, according to them, was Ganai’s IAS colleague and friend since early 1980s.

Panic gripped Civil Secretariat and Legislative Assembly, that was in session, when prominent television news channels of the country began picking up the Early Times series and playing Gul’s escapades. With the expert advice from Law Secretary and Advocate General, Ganai drafted a brief questionnaire and succeeded in getting desired replies from DD Kashir Senior Director, Ananya Banerjee. Director DDK Srinagar, Dr Rafeeq Masoodi, is said to have played key role in getting the much needed “clarification” from Mandi House and thus misleading Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah.

On March 4^th, Mr Omar Abdullah was in New Delhi but all the CM’s men misled Legislative Assembly with Banerjee’s “clarification” in favour of the MLA holding the rank of a Cabinet Minister and functioning as NC’s Chief Whip in the House. Now, the same official, namely Ananya Banerjee, has revealed in her reply to Jammu-based advocate Sheikh Shakeel’s RTI petition that both, Mr Gul as well as his son, Younis Gul, had suppressed vital information in their affidavits and bagged two drama serials, worth Rs 48 Lakh, in violation of norms and guidelines of DD Kashir commissioning.

Ms Banerjee, who also happens to be DD Kashir’s PIO for RTI matters, has asserted in her replies that DD for the first time learnt about Mubarak Gul’s and Younis Gul’s father-son relationship and their membership of J&K Legislative Assembly/ Srinagar Municipal Corporation only when their allotments were challenged and these facts were highlighted in a writ petition in J&K High Court last year.

Guidelines of DD Kashir commissioning process of 2007-09, as still available on DD’s official website, make it clear that programmes could be allotted to bona fide producers but “NOT MORE THAN ONE MEMBER IN A FAMILY”.

In reply to Question Nos: 13, 15, 16 and 17, Banerjee confirms that DD Kashir programmes could not be commissioned to two dependent members of a particular family. She says: “At the time of presentation, DD authorities were not in know of the fact that Shri Mubarak Gul and Younis are dependent members of the same family”. She adds:  “The question of relaxing guidelines does not arise”. She makes it clear that Mubarak and Younis have suppressed the information of their relation in their affidavits.

“DD normally goes by the declaration in the affidavit. As per guidelines, dependent members of the same family are not eligible to submit more than one proposal. It is worth mentioning that dependent members include wife, unmarried sons/daughters”, Banerjee makes clear.

According to Ms Banerjee, Mr Mubarak Gul’s approved and allotted Kashmiri drama serial “Azla Lone” (8 episodes at Rs 3 Lakh each) was canceled and withdrawn after it became known that Mubarak and Younis were members of one family and both had served as MLA/Councilor respectively when they submitted their applications for empanelment in December 2007, when they were interviewed by DD’s Evaluation Committee in June-August 2009, when they submitted their programme proposals and when their proposals were approved for commissioning later in 2009.

Surprisingly, ever after her replies to the RTI petition in June 2010, Banerjee, as Sr Director of DD Kashir, has issued allotment of an 8-episode Dogri drama serial, titled “Alhar Golli Vir Sepoy” (at the rate of Rs 3 Lakh each episode) in favour of Mubarak Gul’s son, Younis Gul, whose guilt, according to her own replies to the RTI petition, was no different from that of his father.

[To be continued…]