A special court acquitted former Film City chairman Govind Swarup and financial advisor Ashok Shukla of allegations of misappropriating Rs 15 crore for the cancelled ‘Hum Ek Hain’ programme. The court found no evidence of corruption or fraud, noting the cancellation was due to the Gujarat earthquake and financial losses were unsuccessfully recovered, clearing the accused of wrongdoing.

Mumbai: A special court has acquitted former chairman of Film City Corporation, Govind Swarup, and financial advisor Ashok Shukla, booked in July 2004 by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) for allegedly siphoning off Rs15 crore for a programme titled ‘Hum Ek Hain’. The special court held that “the auditors examined by prosecution could not prove the misappropriation of funds”, and added, “On the contrary, the agreement brought on record the efforts made to cover up the loss suffered due to the programme not being telecast (as scheduled on January 26, 2001).”

“The programme was cancelled due to the earthquake in Gujarat. All the arrangements were made and it was to be telecast in four cities. The cancellation caused a huge loss. An attempt was made to recover the losses, but were not successful,” the court noted, finding no evidence of misappropriation and corruption.

The court held that oral and documentary evidence on record does not prove misconduct or fraud on part of Swarup and Shukla. As per the prosecution case, Swarup was the Managing Director of Film City and had signed an agreement with M/s Montage, a firm owned by Shahab Ahmed, on August 14, 2000 for a programme based on communal harmony. All financial liabilities and telecast rights were to remain with Montage and the Film City was to receive Rs25 lakh for coordination and administrative charges.

The proposal was approved at a Board of Directors meeting on August 29, 2000. It was claimed that from January 23-25, 2001, prior to the telecast, a loan of Rs1.30 crore was raised by the corporation by pledging fixed deposits worth Rs4.25 crore to Prasar Bharti with Swarup’s approval, at the instance of Shukla. It was further claimed that this amount was without authorisation deposited in an account meant for the programme. It was alleged that in collusion with Ahmed, Swarup and Shukla – who were custodians of Maharashtra Film, Stage & Cultural Development Corporation Ltd (MFSCDC) – funds were raised at the cost of development of Film City.

These major financial decisions were allegedly not brought to the notice of the board, the prosecution had alleged. The primary allegations included gross violation of the set of procedures of corporation and banking norms, with Shukla and Swarup allegedly using the funds without proper authority. Payments were allegedly made without proper note-sheets and not given for the internal audit.