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Bharat Shah’s expulsion from IAD declared illegal

The leading Indian businessman Shah was expelled on March 6 for protesting against IAD's alleged move to collect membership renewal fee by not providing any receipt. The incident took place when the IAD allegedly asked all members to drop Dh50 in a box for renewal of membership. The businessman who was a member for more than 10 years and some other members objected to this and demanded a receipt. He was told by the counter staff that they were not authorised to issue a receipt.

After two days, he was informed of his expulsion from the association's membership for not payment of renewal fees. The expulsion letter was signed by the treasurer and the secretary of IAD. Shah was dismissed without issuing him a warning. The businessman had also objected that the IAD during the past 25 years never opened the membership to every one. Shah had served a legal notice to six members of the managing committee of IAD demanding to be reinstated as a member and as a managing committee member with out any late fee payment and tender an apology for wrongful termination. He also demanded the control of the association to be returned to the elected president. Shah approached K.K. Sarachandra Bose, partner of Dar Al Adalah advocates who filed a case against the association on January 2006.

Bose said Shah was a member as well as a committee member of the Indian Association Dubai. When he raised certain issues on unfair practice such as not opening up of membership to all Indians, the secretary and the treasurer of the Association with the support of the management devised plans and terminated Shah from the Association. The modus operandi, explains Bose, was that when Shah and two other members went to renew their membership by paying a sum of Dh50, the employees of the Association ridiculed them by asking them to deposit the cash in a box without a receipt. These three members refused to deposit cash in the box and hence refused to pay the membership renewal fees. The management of the Association knew pretty well that the members would certainly not pay the fee in such a manner and therefore the management would be able to terminate the membership of such members. So fraudulent thoughts, said Bose.

He said that this is the first case of its kind. "As I know, most of the Indians in the UAE are afraid to go to court and fight against such social injustice thinking that there is no law to support them. Moreover, in most of the cases that I got involved, the management of the social bodies used to bring in some heavy weights and suppress the wrong doings," he said. "In fact there are so many such incidents to my knowledge. For instance, there is an association of Indians in Dubai, supposed to be of the elite group, that is currently accused by its members of misappropriation of funds, forgery and fraud, but as usual the association brought in a well connected local person and tried to get away with it. In my opinion, at least some of the social bodies of Indians in Dubai are not functioning as per the local rules and regulations."

Bose added: "I notice that the regulatory authorities in Dubai are not well equipped with controlling the functioning of the expat associations. In the case of Bharat Kumar vs Indian Association Dubai, I personally approached the regulatory authority to see that the matter was resolved amicably but in vain. On the contrary, in Abu Dhabi, the recent election held in an association was cancelled by the Ministry of Social Affairs in its capacity as regulatory authority on a complaint filed on the election process. Whereas in Dubai I am of the opinion that some of the regulatory authorities do not take complaints of individuals seriously."

"Dubai being a highly organised and a well placed city where the government takes maximum care to see that all are served well, I would advise every one to respect the laws, rules and regulations and create harmony among members of the community. Foreigners are well protected under the provisions of the UAE Constitution."

Bose said: "Licensing and regulation of social bodies may be left to the exclusive authority of the Ministry of labour and Social Affairs. And to the best of my knowledge; this is the law as well. Members of the governing boards of such social organisations must demonstrate high level of integrity, trust and social commitment, and serve the community without any bias or personal gains. Individuals form society and wherever individual rights are not respected and protected, the society collapses, in the sense you may have a body, but without soul."

Bose said that the Indian community has expanded in Dubai and the composition of the Indian Association does not reflect this. The number of ordinary members is 200 compared to thousands of Indians who live in Dubai, he added.

When Khaleej Times contacted Bharat Bhai Shah, he said: "I am very happy about the court verdict. This is a success of justice. Actually this verdict is a warning for the other Indian institutions who indulge in non-democratic activities."

"He disclosed that he is planning to file a suit against IAD for court expenses.

"The way IAD dealt with me cannot be justified. I was confident that I can fight against this injustice in court. The court verdict proves that my stand was correct," he added.

However, the Indian Consulate officials were not available for any comment on the verdict and the status of the defunct association.

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