Charity commissioner of Pune apologises to Anna Hazare

The office of the charity commissioner of Pune on Thursday tendered an apology to anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare for issuing him a show-cause notice for non-submission of audit reports of Hind Swaraj Trust, an organisation headed by Hazare, for two years.

Hazare’s lawyer, Milind Pawar, said the office of the charity commissioner stated in a letter to Hazare that issuing the notice was a mistake. “The charity commissioner has assured to take necessary action against the officer concerned, who was responsible for issuing the notice to Hazare,” Pawar said.

Rashtriya Bhrashtachar Virodhi Janashakti president Hemant Patil had filed a complaint against Hazare with the office of the charity commissioner on the non-submission of the audit reports.
According to the letter sent to Hazare by the charity commissioner, the compliance of the audit report could not be received by the commission office till April 2 and the complainant kept pestering that action should be taken against Hazare. Hence, the office issued the notice.

However, the charity commissioner later found out that the audit reports of the trust were submitted. After receiving the show-cause notice, Hazare had threatened to initiate legal action against the office of charity commissioner, Pune, for a “false show-cause” notice.

However, Pawar said, “Although the office of the charity commissioner has apologised for the goof-up, we will have to initiate legal action against them next week.”