RTI response- Improvement trust tells hotel: Furnish evidence of building approvals granted

Indian Express: Chandigarh: Wednesday, 30 December 2015.

The Amritsar Improvement Trust has asked Charanjit Singh Chadha, president of a noted Sikh charitable society, to furnish evidence of building approvals granted to his hotel in an upmarket area of the city, an RTI plea has revealed.

“Amritsar Improvement Trust had passed the map of shop-cum-office (SCO) number 14 district shopping centre for shop cum office, but you have been running a hotel in it. Kindly inform Trust in written if you have any permission to run hotel in this SCO,” reads the letter issued on October 15, 2015.

Chadha is president of Chief Khalsa Diwan, the 112- year Sikh body that runs educational institutions across the country. He is also said to have high connections in the ruling party, and is known for his proximity to the Badals.

In reply to an RTI query, the Trust had said that no permission had been taken from it to run the hotel. In another related RTI reply in July 2014, the Trust said that there had been no ordinance or bylaw in its record that can be used to change the use of land of any SCO. The Trust clarified that it received no letter from the Government of Punjab or Government of India permitting a hotel at the SCO in question.

A note in the record of Improvement Trust regarding SCO 14 dated March 12, 2012, in response to a RTI query filed in 2011 had this observation to make: “All the branches of the Trust were asked to search the files related to SCO 14 through different letters issued on April 4, 2011 and June 8, 2011. Sale branch has provided agreement file. Rest of the branches could not extract the related files. Trust Engineer and Personal Assistant to Trust chairman has not responded to the demand. Kindly let me know what to do about the RTI inquiry in this case when files are not available”.

To another RTI query, the Trust said the hotel had switched around the front and the rear sides SCO 14, covering a public corridor in the desginated front side and using it as a parking area. The main entrance to the hotel is at the back.

Despite these apparent violations as revealed by the Trust under RTI queries, Chadha got his hotel included under the Punjab government’s Mega Project Scheme which gives several benefits. One was increasing the permissible height of the SCO from 49ft to above 70ft. A pre-condition for the Mega Project Scheme is that it should not be in violation of any local bylaws.

Contacted by The Indian Express, Chadha said he had increased the height of the hotel, and has been getting 5% exemption in the hotel’s power bills under the Mega Project scheme. He said he had satisfied the Improvement Trust on their letter to him demanding approvals for his hotel.

Trust Town Planner Sonu Mohindru said no reply had been received from Chadha so far. He also said that there is no rule to convert the SCO into a hotel.

RTI activist and People Party of Punjab vice president (youth) Satnam Singh Sandy Randhawa said it was remarkable that the Trust had taken all this time to wake up to the violations as the hotel is located just 500 meters from the Trust office. Randhawa pointed out that SCO sites are auctioned at prices that are lower than what land for a hotel would cost.