Subhas Chandra Pattanayak
As we are one with the people of Orissa in collective agony over the danger that ‘The Samaja’ is facing, an esteemed reader of ours, Dr. Asoka Misra, has advanced a suggestion on how to save the newspaper of the people’s beloved Utkalmani from the jaws of the Servants of the People Society (SoPS).
It is a very valuable suggestion.
Commenting on our write up that, for the first time, raised a question on genuineness of the Will of Pt. Gopabandhu Das basing on which the SoPS has occupied The Samaja, Dr. Misra has said,
“ In criminology there is an axiom: “There is no absolute or perfect Crime ” meaning thereby, any act of crime is bound to leave a trail of evidence which needs to be detected only. Great that, finally orissamatters.com has been able to spot this fraud after many decades.…………
Now after this exposure if there is an iota of self-respect left with the SoPS, then the original WILL with the signature/thumb impression of Pt. Gopabandhu Das and witnesses thereto be published by them in The Samaja as soon as possible as suggested.
The Police and/or the appropriate authorities of Judicial system ( since the questionable WILL must have been fraudulently probated too ) of the State must take into cognizance of THE 420 of the Society concerned suo moto and IMMEDIATELY handover The Samaja Management to a NEW NGO under the direct supervision of the Hon’ble HC of Orissa, till the matter is settled lawfully in keeping with the high esteem and pride of THE ORIYAS,and unquestionably the founder of The Samaja, UTKALMANI PUNDIT GOPABANDHU DAS .
We have every reason to believe that the copy of the Will, published by us, is the genuine copy of the Will.
The Samaja had published this document as the “photo” of the Will. We have just investigated into it and have found that it is not a legally tenable document as neither Gopabandhu nor the witnesses have signed it. This leads to suspicion that Will was not even “dictated” by Gopabandhu as claimed.
From FIRs in Police Stations and from Cases in Civil Courts and from the report of investigation by a committee headed by Justice Arijit Pasayat, it transpires that there are members in SoPS who are involved in rampant misuse and misappropriation of the revenue generated by The Samaja and a document in our possession even shows that Manubhai Patel, whose locos standi as President of SoPS has been challenged by its life member-cum-President-in-charge K.C.Tripathy in a civil court, had misused the paper’s revenue in his personal political electioneering in his home province.
The Samaja needs immediate extrication from the most difficult situation it has fallen into. If the SoPS has occupied the paper and its press and properties fraudulently on the basis of a fake Will, the State Government should take over its management without loss of time and initiate every possible legal action against each and everybody involved with the crime.
Till the final decision as to who shall manage The Samaja is arrived at, its management should be handed over to the trade union of its employees, who have been producing the paper and bringing in its revenue through their dedicated and relentless service.
In this context, Dr. Misra’s suggestion deserves deep cogitation.