His ‘deeds’ have taken even many of his well-wishers by surprise, but officials concerned of Uttarakhand seem to be little bothered about Tehelka editor Tarun Tejpal, who is in public glare for alleged rape charges, whose wife Geetan owns a ‘paying guest house’ at Gethia in Nainital. Sources said that the permit for this facility has expired and has not been renewed.
Official concerned of the State Tourism Department’s Nainital unit Deputy Director Abha Bhatt, who is at the helm of dealing with matters related to granting permits for guest houses, did not respond despite repeated phone calls by this correspondent to know about the present position of the paying guest house that Tejpal’s wife reportedly owns at Gethia on the Jyolikot-Bhawali Road in Nainital district.
However, when this matter was raised before the Nainital District Magistrate Arvind Singh Hyanki, while talking to The Pioneer, he maintained that “Since the district administration does not have any complaint in regard to this matter, what kind of action can we takeIJ”
Meanwhile, it is believed as the officials concerned of the State Tourism Department said and media reports suggest, the permit was granted for this paying guest house for three years in 2009. As per the laid down norms, after three years, the permit would automatically get cancelled, if the occupant doesn’t apply for its renewal.
But it is not clear whether the permit was renewed for the said paying guest house after the due date or not, as the officials concerned did not respond despite repeated attempts to contact her. However, sources said that the permit for the guest house has not been renewed. The interesting fact is that when the senior officials of the State Tourism Department, Dehradun, were contacted, they could not tell much on this subject.
They were of the view that since Deputy Director, tourism department at Nainital, Abha Bhatt, is dealing with this matter at the district level, therefore they are not aware about this matter. However, when their attention was drawn towards Deputy Director Abha Bhatt’s failure to respond on phone, they simply expressed their helplessness.