Now Osho Foundation trustees face allegations of fraud

A strange spectacle is unfolding at the Osho Commune in Pune where some prominent trustees of the apex body- Osho International Foundation (OIF) and Neo Sanyas Foundation (NSF)- have been accused of running a private company which is siphoning the earnings of the public charitable trusts.

Two alert followers of Osho, namely, Yogesh Thakkar (alias Swami Prem Geet) and Kishor Raval (alias Swami Prem Anadi) have drawn the attention of the Bombay High Court to the questionable activities of the Mumbai-based firm, Osho Multimedia and Resorts Private Ltd. Apart from top functionaries of the OIF and NSF, the state charity commissioner has also been named as one of the respondents in this case.

Presenting meticulously-gathered evidence in a petition that runs into 550 pages, Thakkar and Raval have alleged that the public trusts meant to promote Osho’s works and philosophy are being swindled by some of the trustees themselves through questionable property transactions and diversion of funds.

This latest petition against the OIF trustees is one among a series of petitions by Thakkar and Raval in the high court and the Charity Commissionerate, Mumbai, over the past two years. In an affidavit before the Charity Commissioner on July 17, 2012, Mukesh Sarda, managing trustee of the OIF had rejected the charges levelled against him and some other trustees as baseless.

The latest petition merits close scrutiny as there have been many cases in the past when trustees have cheated public trusts under their care and command. The mega frauds in trusts dealing with church lands in the Mumbai-Pune belt and elsewhere in the country are a case in point.

The immovable properties held by OIF in Pune are concentrated in the Koregaon Park area and are estimated at Rs. 1,500 crore. Osho’s intellectual property (IPR) includes audio and video recordings and talks that have been converted into 650 books which have been translated into 65 languages. The sale of these books, recordings, royalty payment and licensing of publication rights generates a perennial source of revenue on an international scale.

A controversial spiritualist, Osho, a.k.a. Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh died in Pune 22 years ago in 1991. He first stoked controversy in the 1960s when he spoke of sex and spiritualism in the same breath. From 1974 onwards when he established the Pune Commune till his death in 1991, Osho developed a cult following among Indian and Western followers. The movement’s wealth soared in dollars as did his reputation to make provocative statements and showing off wealth became his style statement. He travelled in private jets, had a fleet of Rolls Royce at one time, dressed outlandishly in messiah-style gowns and sported Gucci shades and diamond studded Patek Philippe watches.

One curious episode in the case of the Osho trusts was reported by Firstpost_in February and April, 2012 (See _ Feb 7, 2012: Sexier still: Osho bosses move on from free sex to free land ) and_(April 20, 2012: HC to hear on Osho Trust’s Rs. 50 cr property ‘gift’ _) when the trustees took to “gifting” prime properties in Pune’s posh Koregaon Park area to an unknown entity in Delhi called Darshan Trust.

Thakkar and Raval raised an alarm after they discovered that the OIF had quietly moved applications with the Charity Commissioner, Mumbai, to allow it to gift properties to Darshan Trust.

Through a series of legal interventions these two petitioners succeeded in securing an interim order from the Bombay High Court in January, 2013 against the gifting of one of the properties of OIF with an estimated market value of Rs 50 crore. In the next month itself, the OIF withdrew its application proposing gifting of another property located at 22 Koregaon Park to Darshan Trust.

The petitioners pointed out that the trustees of Darshan Trust, namely, Vidya Khubchandani, Lal Pratap Singh and Anand Kumar Awasthi had previously served as OIF trustees. They also questioned OIF’s claim that the property gifts were being made as “maintaining and managing them had become a burden” and because these properties were “excess space”, not needed by the OIF.

They cited applications made by the OIF to the Charity Commissioner seeking permission to mortgage other properties to raise loans of Rs 6 crore from Corporation Bank and asked if the OIF was in need of money, why was it gifting property worth Rs 50 crore to Darshan Trust?

This time round, the petitioners have presented new evidence showing that the money spent by the lay public inside the Pune Commune was going into the coffers of the private firm Osho Multimedia and Resorts Pvt. Ltd and not into the accounts of the trusts established in Osho’s name.

Presenting documentary evidence, the petitioners have pointed out that a number of trustees of OIF, NSF and Darshan Trust were found to be Directors and share holders of Osho Multimedia and Resorts Pvt Ltd. These included Mukesh Sarda, Vidya Khubchandani, Devendra Singh Dewal and Sadhana Belapurkar alias Amrut Sadhana who interacts with the media.

The petitioners have pointed out that Osho Multimedia which was previously known as Zen Resorts Pvt Ltd received favours from OIF such as contract for construction of guesthouse and meditation hall. In one specific case presented to the court, it was found that payment by an occupant staying at the guesthouse was not credited to the OIF or the NSF but to Osho Multimedia and Resorts Pvt Ltd. Similarly, the payment made towards purchase of CD/books/ VCD worth Rs. 16,845 in October 2012 from the bookshop on the premises at Osho Commune was not credited to a trust of the commune but to the private firm. The petitioners have alleged siphoning of funds and estimated the loss that such transactions have cost the OIF over a 12 year period since the establishment of the private firm. They have demanded that the amount be recovered from the private firm.

They have presented evidence to show that Osho International Foundation, the Neo Sanyas Foundation and Osho Multimedia and Resorts Pvt Ltd. share the same registered address, namely, 608 Maker Chambers Nariman Point, Mumbai.

The petitioners have urged that the court take cognisance of all the facts presented in the case and act appropriately in the interest of justice.