Sour Note: The body says it took a loan and scaled up a project in memory of Mangeshkars’ mother because the siblings promised help.
A cultural organisation in Indore is on the the brink of bankruptcy and its office bearers face a possible jail term because it alleges the Mangeshkar family – mainly singing legend Lata Mangeshkar and her brother Hridaynath Mangeshkar – failed to abide by an apparent funding promise.
The Marathi Samaj, a non-profit umbrella body of several organisations run by Marathi speakers, in 1999 started constructing a cultural institution called the Shuddhamati Tatha Mai Mangeshkar Bhawan, in memory of Mangeshkars’ mother . Lata Mangeshkar was born in Indore in 1929 and the Marathi community wanted to honour her mother by naming an auditorium after her. A loan of Rs 35 lakh was procured for the project by Marathi Samaj, office bearers contends, following a promise of financial help by the Mangeshkars.
Hridaynath Mangeshkar told Scroll.in that no assurances were given to the Indore body in writing.
Scale increased
About 22 years ago, the state allotted a 35,000-sq-feet plot to the Samaj at a nominal rate at Sneh Nagar in south-east Indore. Today, it houses a three-storey building with an imposing façade but incomplete interiors. The hall is complete with air-conditioning, but has no acoustic features.
The original project plan was modest and manageable with the Samaj’s resources. The Samaj alleges that the parameters were expanded in 1999 in keeping with the wishes of Hridaynath Mangeshkar when he visited Indore. So, it took a loan of Rs 35 lakh from the local Chhatrapati Cooperative Society 15 years ago.
The project report was sent to the Mangeshkars in 1999 and there was a series of correspondence between the Samaj and the Dinanath Smriti Pratishthan, the Mangeshkar family trust for charitable purposes.
The Pratishthan’s secretary wrote a letter to the Marathi Samaj in May, 1999, conveying the decision of the trust’s board. The Samaj says the Pratishthan gave an assurance that, among other things, Lata Mangeshkar would present a concert and all her siblings would attend it, free of cost, once 90% of the project work was complete. “The letter promised that the proceedings of the programme will go to the Samaj here,” said Anil Kumar Dhadwaiwale, senior director of the Marathi Samaj.
Accordingly, a bhumi pujan was arranged in October 1999 and was attended by then state Governor Mahavir Prasad and Adinath Mangeshkar, Hridaynath’s son. As work proceeded, Hridaynath Mangeshkar and sisters Usha, Asha and Meena, who made several trips to Indore for music concerts, visited the venue several times, claims the Marathi Samaj.
But no funds came the Samaj’s way, it alleges. “We spent another Rs 5 lakh sending delegations to the Mangeshkars in Mumbai and the Pratisthan office in Pune over the last five years,” said Dhadwaiwale. “There has been no response.”
Over the years, the loan amount with interest increased to Rs 1.10 crore. Even though the building is not fully complete, the Samaj claims, it started holding programmes and renting out the place since 2010 to lessen the loan burden. But with the Samaj unable to repay the full sum, a court at the District Registrar Cooperative Department, Madhya Pradesh, filed a case against it five years ago.
Inference of commitment
Hridaynath Mangeshkar said there was no formal agreement with the Samaj and expressed inability to provide any help. “There was no written agreement [that we will provide finance for the project],” he told this journalist over phone. “At that point of time, it was not possible for us to spare any money. We had the Dinanath Mangeshkar Hospital project [in Pune] with Rs 100 crore budget.”
The veteran music director and singer recalls that the Marathi Samaj officials have been requesting a programme in Indore. “It was not possible then…and considering Didi’s [Lata’s] health owing to her age, it does not seem possible now,” he said.
Ashok Chitale, a senior advocate who spends time between Indore and Delhi, said: “There may not be any expressed, formal indenture on stamp paper and signed in presence of witnesses. But available correspondence, the bhumi pujan by Adinath leads to the inference of commitment to the project by Hridaynath Mangeshkar.” Chitale is not a member nor an office bearer of the Samaj.
Last month, the final arguments in the default case were heard in a court at the Madhya Pradesh government’s District Registrar Cooperative Department. “The judgment is expected anytime,” Dhadwaiwale said. “We will know soon if we are going to jail because the Mangeshkars went back on their word.”
This story was first published by Scroll.in on December 17, 2014. It can be read here
http://scroll.in/article/693944/Indore-Marathi-body%E2%80%99s-members-face-jail-%E2%80%98because-the-Mangeshkars-failed-to-keep-their-word%E2%80%99