Ruling the roost?

LUCKNOW: Personal vendetta, absolute power and petty tricks. All these characteristics have become more pronounced as the date to elect the Golf Club''s new management committee draws near.
The fall of the institution that LGC was has been more visible during this election season when it has suddenly gained the sobriquet of a cheap adda. And a few senior members do regret this.
Issues that were simmering for the past one year have now erupted.Sadly, says a member, they also appear well past something which the club''s management committee can solve amicably even as dissatisfied members are coming out in the open to voice their grievances.
Sample this: Senior member Raghvendra Singh is apprised of the fact that he has not cleared his dues. Singh duly pays Rs 7,000 vide cheque number 439526 drawn on Oriental Bank of Commerce (receipt number 8801 dtd April 1, 2004).
But, Singh says, despite the fact that the bill of Rs 8,999 received by him states that the ''last date of payment'' is April 30, 2004, to his "utter shock" he receives a letter from honorary secretary, Prabhat Chaturvedi, dated April 14, 2004, saying that since he had not cleared his dues by April 6, 2004 as had been asked, "your membership has been terminated".
Stunned, Singh writes to Chaturvedi explaining that he, in fact, had deposited a major portion (Rs 7,000) of the Rs 8999 dues on April 1 and that he had been provided time till April 30 to clear his dues.
He, however, receives no reply till some time. He later agrees to pay Rs 15,000 as restoration charges and resigns himself to forget the matter.
However, as chance would have it,...
...his son Hemendra Singh is targeted next. While he is sitting in the club with a few friends, he asks the waiter Shri Pal for a few eatables.
When it is half-an-hour and the waiter fails to serve the eatables, he peeps into the kitchen to remind him of the order. Simultaneously, another member who has also not been served for quite some time arrives in the kitchen and grabs the waiter''s collar. \
The incident, Singh says, is blown up thereafter and while the person who actually manhandled the waiter is let off after he tenders a written apology, Hemendra is not taken back as he refuses to apologise "knowing" he had done nothing wrong.
To make matters worse, even the waiter is chucked out later on framed charges, alleges Singh.
Membership of as many as 21 persons was terminated in a similar fashion, says Singh, adding that Chaturvedi did not even stop at that. Referring to a letter issued by few members, "endorsed" by Chaturvedi and distributed at a party on May 29, Singh says that the letter twisted words of another letter written by him to all members to make them sound offensive.
While Singh had actually stated that the number of people gaining entry to the club needed to be controlled as it was being done merely to increase the vote bank, the letter issued later on May 29 "wrongly states" that Singh had referred to non-golfers as ''Bangladeshi refugees''.
While Singh fails to understand the "modus operandi", another member, Sanjay Sinha, whose membership was also terminated in a "bizarre" manner, speaks out: "Mr Chaturvedi has done great injustice. He is terminating the membership of all old members and bringing in new members just to increase his vote bank while also augmenting the club funds."
Sinha''s case, as it appears, is of simple and brute injustice. "I had donated Rs 2.67 lakh to the club. Yet, while I was out of town and payment was delayed, my membership was terminated." And, when the payments were made,...
...I was again sent a letter to pay another Rs 5,000 as restoration charges.
When I requested Chaturvedi to waive off the restoration charges, I received no reply. "When I came back to Lucknow in December 2004, I called him up to inform him that I had not received invitations to the party on December 31 and that my entire family was eagerly waiting to enjoy the party with old friends, I was curtly told that my membership had been terminated and I would not be invited to the party."
I was not even informed that my request for waiving the restoration charges had not been accepted. Now, I have no option but to approach the judiciary for justice, says Sinha.
Chaturvedi, however, maintains that the management committee was only doing its job of imeplementing the clear rules and regulations of the club. "The club files can prove that everything has been done exactly as per rule," says Chaturvedi, adding that if anybody had a grievance, he should approach the club forum.
What club forum? a member said.