AS if Satish Sharma’s ‘deals’ were not enough, wife Sterre Sharma has chosen this delicate time to get embroiled in a controversy all her own. This revolves around allegations that she misappropriated about eight acres of prime Delhi Development Authority (DDA) land in Lado Sarai, south Delhi—the pretext being an arts complex, Kalakar Trust, to provide folk artistes work and shelter.
V.K. Singhal, the DDA director for land management who handled the case, told Outlook: "We allocated only three acres to the Kalakar Trust—the decision was taken in early 1996. The deal is: the DDA will continue to own the land and it will have access to the open air theatre-cum-performance centre. The theatre will be allowed to be used by the trust for a licence fee. No decision has been taken on the precise fee, though." All vague stuff. Singhal seems to be concealing more than he reveals, and nothing that he does reveal actually clears the suspicions. Is there any precedence of the DDA giving prime land to cultural bodies like the Kalakar Trust, whose antecedents, funding and accounts are far from transparent? What and how much is the licence fee?
There are other questions that arise. Did the approved structures include a shopping complex? Who are the beneficiaries? Did the Kalakar Trust submit routine affidavits concerning its registration and audited accounts to the DDA before being allotted the three acres of land? The DDA remains mum.
Matters came to a head only after cultural activist Rajeev Sethi tore Sterre to shreds recently. It was Sethi who had introduced Sterre to the artistes at Kath-putli Colony, in west Delhi, where she had installed two water tanks and revived a non-functioning dispensary.
In 1990, Sterre floated her own Kalakar Trust, whose members include her sister, Dr Mei Zegers, and her husband. To tap funds, Sterre had opened two accounts in India and the US. Donations to India, under the Foreign Contributors Regulation Act (FCRA), get tax exemption.
Abha Rodrigues, who looks after Sterre’s business in Delhi, was not available for comment when contacted. But Dilip Bhatt, pradhan of Kathputli Colony, spoke his heart out to Outlook: "Since we are illiterate, we are being cheated. A few months back, Sterre Sharma started a multi-purpose cooperative society and collected a membership fee of Rs 214 from every family. We are yet to get any receipt, nor has any service been rendered."
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