By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 29 Mar: Former Governor of Maharashtra Bhagat Singh Koshyari has threatened to file a defamation case against RTI activist Anil Galgali of Mumbai for levelling false charges against him and his nephew. Reacting sharply to a viral claim that Koshyari had collected a donation of Rs 15 crores from the Ambani family for his institution, Koshyari said that he or his family do not own or operate any educational institution.
Koshyari claimed that the RTI activist, Anil Galgali, has spread misinformation about him and his family members in the media and social media. Galgali is claiming that Koshyari and his family had accepted a donation of Rs 15 crores from Anant Ambani for his educational institution. Koshyari asserted that he does not own or operate any educational institution anywhere. He added that while he was a Governor in Maharashtra, innumerable people from all walks of life used to meet him at Raj Bhawan in Mumbai. Anant Ambani of Reliance Industries also happened to meet him for some time at the Raj Bhawan. During this meeting, he had appealed to Anant Ambani to support Parvati Prema Jagati Saraswati Vihar Senior High Secondary School and its branches located in Nainital under the CSR scheme. Koshyari stressed that this institution is run by a leading all India level educational body Vidya Bharti. Following his appeal, Anant Ambani immediately donated an amount of Rs 15 crores to Vidya Bharti Trust under CSR.
Koshyari clarified that neither he nor any of his family members are trustees in the said institution nor they are involved in any form with the education society. This school has been running for about 40 years and its branches have also been running for many years now.
Koshyari claimed that, as social political activists, the MLAs, MPs or Ministers, etc., from time to time make appeal to companies to help some good institutions under CSR for public utility social works like education, health, etc. This assistance is provided by the companies under CSR policy and they get rebate in Income Tax under Section 80G of Income Tax. He reminded that the then Governor Sudarshan Agarwal had set up Himjyoti Foundation and school and had sought donations from people and even now this school is providing education to many underprivileged students.
Koshyari added that he has no role in the management or running of the school and he had issued an appeal solely in greater public interest but Galgali by making fabricated allegations that he or his nephew Deependra Singh had purchased land with this money and were constructing a resort has deeply hurt his reputation. Koshyari added that he is seeking legal advice in this regard and soon he would initiate legal action against Galgati and the publications for publishing misleading information.
