NEW DELHI: A Delhi court today framed several issues to be decided in a 1997 civil suit filed against Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi for alleged misappropriation of funds of a trust, and directed the presence of all the parties involved in the case next month.
The court framed 13 questions, including which of the parties -- Satyarthi and his wife or other trustees, are in possession of the records of the Mukti Pratishthan Trust and for which period. "Whether the suit filed by the plaintiff is collusive suit which has been malafidely filed at the behest of Swami Agnivesh for the purposes of misusing the assets of Mukti Pratishthan Trust (MPT)? If yes, its effect," Additional District Judge Kamini Lau said.
The civil suit was filed against Satyarthi and his wife Sumedha by MPT and four trustees alleging that the plaintiffs had got to know about embezzlement of huge sum of money belonging to the trust by maintaining false accounts. Satyarthi and his wife are also trustees of the trust.
The court also directed Satyarthi, Sumedha and other four trustees to be present before it on November 7 for the purpose of admission or denial of documents in the suit. "Since the claims are primarily based upon documentations, hence case be listed for personal appearance of the parties for purposes of admission – denial of the documents and also for reply/ arguments and disposal of the application... (filed by Satyarthi and his wife) for November 7," the court said.
The other issues framed by the court include "whether the defendants (Satyarthi and his wife) have misappropriated the trust properties or transferred substantial interest in the trust in favour of Association for Voluntary Action (AVA) or to South Asia Coalition on Child Servitude (SAACS)?"
"Whether Swami Agnivesh is a necessary party in the counter claim filed by defendants in view of the additional claims/pleas of the defendants no.1 and 2 in... the counter claim? If yes, its effect," it said. The issues would be dealt with in the future proceedings in the suit.
Child rights activist Satyarthi, who got the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014, and his wife have filed a plea in the court claiming that the trustees had "suddenly" and "aggressively" started pursuing the 1997 suit against him after he was awarded the prestigious prize. In his plea, Satyarthi has urged the court to direct the plaintiffs to furnish security for the costs incurred or likely to be incurred by the defendants to defend themselves.
"In case any cost of proceedings are awarded, it will not be possible for defendants to recover the same from plaintiffs as they do not possess any sufficient movable property within India from they can realise the costs.
"The plaintiffs do not own any assets from which the defendants may be able to realise the cost of proceedings," Satyarthi's application said, alleging that the plaintiffs had misappropriated trust properties for their own benefit. The copy of the plea was supplied to the counsel for the plaintiffs in the court.
The plaint had alleged that when plaintiff Sheo Taj Singh, also a leader of the Bandhua Mukti Morcha, conducted an inquiry into the affairs and accounts of trust, he came to know that "major part of the trust funds, running into huge sums of money has been spent by the defendant trustees (Satyarthi and his wife) either on foreign trips and other luxuries or embezzled by way of falsification of accounts".
Satyarthi and his wife had earlier filed a statement challenging the maintainability of suit and also denied the allegations made in it. He and Sumedha had alleged that the plaint filed against them was a proxy litigation which the plaintiffs had filed in "collusion with their mentor Swami Agnivesh, a political figure and Arya Samaj leader, who was putting pressure to grab the movable and immovable properties of the trust".
The court was earlier apprised about the missing records by the receiver who was appointed to look into various key aspects of the dispute and file a report on it.