After Early Times expose, CM’s Advisor can’t stay as MLA: Pirzada Mansoor

Speaker takes presentation of facts from MLA Mubarak Gul , ET scribe

EARLY TIMES REPORT

JAMMU, Mar 2: On the second consecutive day today, opposition PDP’s MLA, Pirzada Mansoor Hussain, raked up the issue of the National Conference MLA Mubarak Gul’s indulgence into a work contract worth Rs 18 Lakh with Doordarshan and asserted that today’s issue of daily Early Times had made it clear that Mr Gul had misled the House with his statement on Monday. He demanded that Speaker should verify the facts and thereafter dismiss the NC Chief Whip and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s Advisor from membership of the Legislative Assembly.

In the beginning of the Zero Hour like yesterday, Pirzada Mansoor Hussain got up and displayed today’s issue of Early Times while making his point that Mr Mubarak Gul had misled the House with his suo moto statement on Monday. In his quick reaction to yesterday’s ET story from the newspaper’s Srinagar Bureau Chief, Ahmed Ali Fayyaz, Mr Gul had contested the fact of his involvement in seeking and taking the DD Kashir contract during his tenure as an elected MLA. In unambiguous terms, Mr Gul had offered to resign if it was proved that he made applied for empanelment as DD producer (contractor), submitted any project or received any allotment from DD while functioning as MLA or Chief Minister’s Advisor.

Mr Gul had further claimed that he had worked as DD’s private producer “three years back when there was Governor’s rule in the state”.

In a follow-up to the scoop in today’s issue of ET, Mr Ahmed Ali Fayyaz had mentioned in detail that Mr Mubarak Gul was an elected MLA in his 3rd term when DD Kashir had sought applications for the empanelment on 30-11-2007 as also when the NC leader submitted his application to DD in December 2007. He had further mentioned with documentary evidence, drawn from DD’s official website, that Mr Gul was serving his 4th term as MLA from Iddgah on the date of his personal presentation before DD’s Evaluation Committee at Directorate General (Mandi House) on 23-06-2009. Mr Fayyaz had further mentioned that Mr Gul was not only an elected MLA but also Chief Minister’s Advisor, holding the status of a Cabinet Minister in the state Government, when DD approved Mr Gul’s Kashmiri drama serial, titled ‘Azla Lone’ and the MLA (Producer) received DD’s letter of allotment at his Ministerial bungalow in Tulsi Bagh, Srinagar.

Quoting DD sources, but awaiting an official conformation, Mr Fayyaz had reported in the follow up that Mr Gul had reportedly signed an agreement of the work order at Directorate General of Doordarshan as recently as in January-February 2010. In a related story, Mr Fayyaz had unveiled another fact in the same process of commissioning that DD Kashir had allotted a separate project of Rs 24 Lakh (8 episodes of a Dogri drama serial at the rate of Rs 3.00 Lakh) to Mr Gul’s son, Younis Gul, in brazen violation of the guideline that bars DD from allotting programmes to more than one member in a family. Mr Younis Gul has been working as a corporator in Srinagar Municipal Corporation since February 2005.

Referring to the ET graphics, Mr Mansoor said that Mr Gul had misled the House with his statement yesterday. According to him, Mr Gul deserved dismissal of his membership from the House after ET’s documented proof of his having worked as a contractor of the Government while being an elected MLA.

With Chief Minister Omar Abdullah watching the proceedings without any reaction, Speaker, Mohammad Akbar Lone, received today’s copy of the newspaper and said that he would give his ruling on the issue after scrutinizing the facts. Yesterday, as well as today, Speaker made it clear that during his/her term as MLA, nobody was authorized by law to enter into a contract with the Government. He said that the MLA concerned had contested the charge yesterday but he would examine the whole issue in light of the fresh developments, including clippings of today’s reports in the newspaper.

After ending today’s proceedings in the House, Speaker called both, MLA Mr Gul as well as ET Bureau Chief Ahmed Ali Fayyaz to his chambers and collected presentation of facts from them.

END