FilmIndia (May-Dec 1938)

♦ Bombay Calling r Ihis section is the monopoly of "JUDAS'' and he writes what he likes and about things which he likes. The views expressed here are not necessarily ours, but still they carry weight because they are written by a man who knows his job. A SCANDALOUS EXISTENCE: The sixth annual report of the Motion Picture Society of India, just published, provides interesting reading. In the first seventeen pages, there is nothing of interest, as these pages are devoted to the achievements of the Society in the year gone by. As the Society did nothing of importance during the year, these seventeen pages hardly deserve any notice. The fun starts when you peruse the balance sheet and read some of the riders by the firm of Registered Accountants and Auditors who audit the accounts of the Society. Here are the two columns of expenditure and income, which generally spell the existence of any institution in the world. INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st MARCH 1938. EXPENDITURE Printing of Journal 5,748 0 0 Salaries 3.443 8 0 Amount defalcated by an employee written off 2,160 10 6 I.C.Y. Book 1938 expenses written off 1,259 5 6 Postage and Telegrams 830 9 0 Rent 660 0 0 Stationary 544 14 3 Sundry Expenses 344 13 0 Telephone Charges 290 0 0 Conveyance 215 12 6 Propaganda 275 0 0 Blocks etc. 118 3 0 Electricity charges 107 8 6 Bad Debts 15 0 0 Bank Charges 8 12 0 Depreciation of Furniture and Library 118 6 0 Excess of Income over Expenditure 1,875 2 0 Total 18,015 8 3 INCOME By Subscription Accounts Less Outstandings as at 31-3-1938 By Journal Advertisements „ Donations „ Entrance Fees „ Journal Subscriptions „ Miscellaneous Receipts „ Sale of I.C.Y. Copies 10,321 6,064 10 4 9 Total 4256 10 0 9768 12 0 3632 6 0 244 0 0 15 10 0 70 3 3 27 15 C 18.015 8 3 Item No. 3 in the expenditure section shows an amount of Rs. 2160-10-6 as defalcated by an employee' of the Society. With regard to this item the Auditors say: "No steps have been taken for the recovery of the amount." Someone must know why steps were not taken to recover the money. In the small life of the Society the sum of Rs. 2160-10-6 is a huge amount. Every payment that is made is under the joint signatures of Mr. M. B. Billimoria, the Hon. Treasurer and Mr. B. D. Bharucha, the Honorary Secretary or Mr. Motwane, the Jt. Secretary. How could anyone therefore commit a fraud to that extent without the knowledge of these dignitaries? It is obvious that these gentlemen have shouldered their honorary responsibility rather lightly and did not check the accounts daily with the result that some public funds have been dissipated in a criminal way. Mr. M. B. Billimoria, the well known film distributor, is the Hon. Treasurer of the Motion Picture Society of India. Looking at the matter from a strictly moral point of view, these gentlemen should make good the amount misappropriated by the ex-employee. The Society cannot afford to lose the money. The employee who defalcated the amount should* also be brought to book as he has committed a criminal offence, to suppress which will be another offence against the Society. Are the Members of the Executive Committee afraid of bringing the culprit to book thru fear of exposing something which can't stand the light of day? The criminal must be punished and the fraud must be exposed if the society is to live in the future. SOME MORE DISCREPANCIES! The outstanding subscriptions not collected by the workers are shown as Rs. 6064-10-9. And yet in the