Golf Club comes under SC hammer

LUCKNOW: The controversial club management committee of the prestigious Lucknow Golf Club has got a severe blow with the Supreme Court asking it not to hold its extraordinary general meeting, scheduled on Sunday. Ironically the president of the management committee, Rai Umapati Ray, too resigned reportedly over the issue.
When contacted by TOI, Ray confirmed that he had resigned, saying that he was "not happy with the activities going on" in the club."Golf is a friendly and social activity and with so many litigations going on, it did not seem right. Moreover, I had been functioning for the past 27 months in the committee, maybe someone else can do a better job," Ray said.
The EGM, Ray said, had been called off due to the SC order. The SC Bench comprising Justices Tarun Chatterjee and R M Lodha on September 3 ordered that the "extraordinary general meeting shall not be held". The order came on a petition filed by members of the club against the club management committee's decision to hold the EGM, reportedly to expel some members on baseless grounds.
Club secretary Devesh Rastogi, however, denied he had received the SC order. Talking to TOI, Rastogi said, "we have received no such order. The EGM was only postponed due to an internal decision and the management committee will decide later on for the date for holding the EGM."
As is apparent, with the club regularly coming under fire for its allegedly illegal activities, the SC order comes as yet another embarrassment. The LGC has been in controversy right since 2005 when the club elections were countermanded. The club also earned the ire of the Lucknow Martin Charities, the owners of the club land, for "violating the lease agreement by going ahead with constructions" on the land. While the principal of La Martiniere College, Elton deSouza, who is also the estate officer for the property, refused to renew the lease which expired on March 12, 2008, the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) too recently got active and issued a notice against the illegal construction, done without proper sanction of the LDA and on green belt area. The constructions were declared illegal by the state government as well.
The LGC also came under fire from the excise department, which raided the club premises recently for running the bar illegally without a licence. The club reportedly had to pay a heavy penalty to get an extension from the district magistrate. The DM Chandra Bhanu has granted the extension till September 30 on the condition that the lease agreement be renewed by then.
Members of the club said that they had paid lakhs for the membership of the club and feared that with such illegal activities the club might face stricter action in future.