Retraction of the Article Titled " Will Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Personally Benefit From Her Ministry’s Decision to Open Cantonment Roads for Civilians?"

Newsclick and authors of the article have decided to retract the article on the alleged conflict of interest relating to Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and the decision of the Ministry of Defence to open up cantonment roads for civilian use, following concerns raised by our well-wishers and others which we are seeking to address and investigate. We stand by the thrust of its article. We raised certain questions to the Defence Minister herself but we did not receive any response from her or her office for more than ten days. In the interests of full disclosure, we are reproducing the full text of what we sent her by email:

Smt Nirmala Sitharaman

Raksha Mantri

Ministry of Defence, Government of India

104, South Block

New Delhi – 110011

E-mail: nsitharaman@gmail.com, rmo@mod.nic.in

Dated: 11 August 2018

Subject: Questionnaire concerning your properties in the Secunderabad Cantonment Area, Hyderabad and the notification opening cantonment roads to civilian traffic.

Dear Smt Nirmala Sitharaman

You may recall me. I nevertheless introduce myself as an independent journalist with 40 years of experience in broadcast and print journalism, teaching, and documentary film-making. I am sending you the following questionnaire based on information that I have gathered from various sources that I consider reliable, for the purposes of an article that I am writing for the online news portal www.newsclick.in relating to allegations of conflict of interest that have arisen against yourself and your family members with regard to the 21 May 2018 notification on “opening of cantonment area roads.”

By means of Notification B/72029/AC/Land (Policy & ANC)/74/Vol II dated 21 May 2018, issued by Lt. Gen. R. K. Anand, the Director General of the Land Works and Environment Directorate in the Quartermaster General Branch of the Integrated Headquarters of the Ministry of Defence (Army), roads in cantonment areas – till then closed to civilian use – were opened to civilian traffic and use. As per the information received by me, it is my understanding that the notification applies to roads within the Secunderabad Cantonment area in Hyderabad, Telangana.

According to the affidavit filed by you – dated 30 May 2016 – in “Form 26” along with your nomination papers for your election to the Rajya Sabha, you have listed your address of residence as Plot No M-6, Green Lands, Manchirevula Village, Rajendra Nagar Mandal, Ranga Reddy District, Telengana, PIN 500089. Further, in Annexure C1 you have disclosed that a land plot measuring 21,728 square feet in area, located at the address Plot No-M6, Green Lands, Manchirevula Village, Rajendra Nagar Mandal, Rangareddy District, Telengana, Survey No – 186 is owned by you and your spouse Dr Parakala Prabhakar. You have disclosed that the property was acquired by you on 21 January 2003 for a consideration of Rs 2,42,000 equally contributed by yourself and your spouse, with whom you share ownership of the plot. You have further disclosed that an investment of Rs 35,00,000, equally shared between yourself and your spouse has been made in the plot towards development, construction etc.

As per information received by me, Pranava The School, located at Greenlands Development, Manchirevula, Rajendra Nagar Mandal, Rangareddy District, Telegana – 500089 is located within the plot owned by you, and is run by the Parakala Seshavataram Memorial Trust, of which your spouse Dr Parakala Prabhakar is the chairman. Further, in the following news report titled “Pranava students show the way” published in The Hindu newspaper on June 18, 2006 (accessible at https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-andhrapradesh/pranava-students-show-the-way/article3121179.ece) Dr Prabhakar is identified as the Chairman of Parakala Seshavataram Memorial Trust and you are identified as the School Director of Pranava The School.

In light of these facts, I seek your responses/comments to the following questions.

Is it true that the property located at Plot No. M-6, Green Lands, Manchirevula Village, Rajendra Nagar Mandal, Ranga Reddy District, Telengana, PIN 500089, is your permanent address?
Does the above-mentioned property belong to you?
Is it true that Pranava School located at Greenlands Development, Manchirevula, Rajendra Nagar Mandal, Ranga Reddy District, Telengana, PIN 500089 is run by the Parakala Seshavataram Memorial Trust of which your husband Dr Parakala Prabhakar is the chairman?
Is the school owned by the above-mentioned trust?
Is it true that you are the director of the above-mentioned school?
Is it true that both the above-mentioned properties fall within the limits of the Secunderabad Cantonment area?
If the answers to the above questions are in the affirmative, is there not a clear conflict of interest between your role as Raksha Mantri/Defence Minister of India and the proposals and decisions of your Ministry in opening, or deciding to open roads in cantonment areas to the general public?

In anticipation of your early response.

Sincerely,

Paranjoy Guha Thakurta

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