RTI Group (www.rtigroup.org) India

HC quashes UP govt notifications on RTI Act

2012-01-25T23:44:00.002+05:30

PTI | 10:01 PM,Jan 25,2012: Lucknow, Jan 25 (PTI) The Allahabad High Court today quashed two notifications by Uttar Pradesh government which excluded confidential section under Home and Civil Aviation departments from the purview of RTI Act, saying restrictions imposed were excessive and beyond the powers of the state. The order was passed by a Lucknow bench comprising justices Pradeep Kant and Decvendra Kumar Upadhyaya while allowing two Public Interest Litigations challenging the notifications issued by the state government. On June 7 2009, a notification was issued excluding certain works alloted to conidential sections of the state government from the purview of RTI Act. Prior to this, one more notification was issued on March 25, 2008 which specified that the operation unit, the maintenance, security and general administration unit of the civil aviation department of the state were excluded from the applicability of the RTI Act. The court in its order observed that the RTI is part and parcel of the right to freedom of speech and expression as contained in the Constitution. Further the RTI Act gives statutory safeguard to the freedom of speech and expression guaranteed in the Constitution, which cannot be curtailed except with reasonable restrictions, it said. The court said that therefore restrictions imposed were excessive and beyond the powers of the state, which cannot be done by issuance of the impugned notifications. "For the aforesaid reason petitions are allowed and both the notifications being invalid or hereby quashed," it said.

Shailesh Gandhi Writes to Chhatisgarh CM as Legislative Assembly Hikes RTI Fee to Rs 500

2012-01-24T23:47:00.006+05:30

Text of the letter written by Shri Shailesh Gandhi, Information Commissioner, Central Information Commission, New Delhi, to Chief Minister, Chhattisgarh, and Shri Ravindra Choubey, Leader of Opposition, is reproduced below.

------------------------------------------------------------

Dr. Raman Singh

Chief Minister

Chhattisgarh

Mantralaya

DKS Bhawan, Raipur- 492001

Chhattisgarh

Dear Dr. Raman Singh,

There is some disturbing news which has been received that the Chhatisgarh Legislative assembly has revised the fee payable for RTI applications and the fee chargeable for providing information to Citizens. All over the country all Public authorities have kept a fee of `10 as application fee and `2 per page for providing information. It has been reported that the Chhatisgarh Legislature has revised this to`500 for application fee and `15 per page for information to be provided.

This would be very unfortunate since Right to Information is a fundamental right of citizens and Section 7(5) of the Act states that, “Where access to information is to be provided in the printed or in any electronic format, the applicant shall, subject to the Provisions sub-section (6), pay such fee as may be prescribed:

“Provided that the fee prescribed under sub-section (1) of section 6 and sub-section (1) and (5) of section 7 shall be reasonable and no such fee shall charged from the persons who are of below poverty line as may be determined by the appropriate Government.”

It has clearly been mentioned in the law that the application fee as well as the additional fee for providing information would be reasonable. Almost all Public Authorities in the Country have in the right spirit of the Act and recognizing that information should be available to citizens since they are the owners of the information, kept `10/- as application fee and `2/- per page as additional fee for providing the information. In this background the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly’s decision to start charging `500/- as application and `15/- per page as additional fee goes against the spirit and purpose of the RTI Act and would be unwarranted discrimination against citizens who seek information from the Legislative Assembly. This would give rise to suspicion and speculation that the legislative assembly wishes to discourage citizens from exercising their fundamental right. I am sure the Chhattisgarh Assembly will set a good example to promote citizen’s fundamental rights and reduce the application fee and the additional fee to `10/- and `2/- respectively at the earliest.

Best Regards,

Your’s Truly

(Shailesh Gandhi)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Shri Ravindra Choubey,

Leader of Opposition

Chhattisgarh Vidhan Sabha,

Baluda Bazar Road,

Raipur- Chhattisgarh

Dear Shri Ravindra Choubey,

Best Regards,

Your’s Truly

(Shailesh Gandhi)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Shri Dharamlal Kaushik

Speaker

Chhattisgarh Vidhan Sabha,

Baluda Bazar Road,

Raipur- Chhattisgarh

Dear Shri Dharamlal Kaushik,

Best Regards,

Your’s Truly

(Shailesh Gandhi)

Jamia Millia Jamia sends Rs.50 lakh defamation notice to RTI activist

2012-01-22T23:37:00.002+05:30

Association for Protection of Civil Rights has flayed Jamia Millia Islamia for sending defamation notice of Rs.50 lakh to RTI activist Afroz Alam Sahil – who was instrumental in bringing into the public domain the post-mortem report of Batla House encounter – and termed the move as an attempt to harass him. Jamia authorities were peeved at Afroz Alam Sahil constantly questioning the administration through RTI. Rights group alleged that it is an open attempt to suppress the voice of dissen

t as well as freedom of speech. Mr. Sahil has also been campaigning for restoration of democratic rights for students of Jamia where election for Students Union have not been held since 2006. Mr. Sahil is also credited for bringing into public domain post-mortem report into the Batla House encounter through his RTI application apart from raising issues pertaining to corruption, fellowships, hostel allotment, health services and security for women.

Several organizations have demanded that Jamia administration withdraw its legal notice with immediate effect to ensure freedom of speech and to encourage its own outstanding student.

Scan of the legal notice of defamation is attached.

RTI: 20 Lakh embezzled in Aligarh Station of All India Radio

2012-01-22T22:51:00.004+05:30

Information provided under RTI to Mr Bimal Khemani of TRAP Group of Aligarh has revelaed that Aligarh based station of All India Radio entered into an agreement with a private security agency. The Director General (Additional-Security) objected to the said agreement with private security agency, and even the Audit Section pointed out that there has been flagrant violation of rules, the concerned officials of AIR Aligarh station did not pay heed to them. Later it was revealed under RTI that about Rs 20 lakh of public money has been embezzled, it is alleged, with the connivance of certain officials of AIR. Mr Bimal Khemani has filed a complaint with the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) in the matter.

CIC Shailesh Gandhi: “No Public Interest” in IDBI’s Rs 4200 Cr. Loan to Mumbai Airport

2012-01-10T12:51:00.001+05:30

Monday, 9 January: Central Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi is the poster boy of RTI activists. But an order given by him on 30th December 2011 will surely tempt RTI activists to worry about his application of mind to the essential points.

Because, Mr Gandhi has told the average citizen of India that information about an infrastructure loan of Rs 4,200 crore given by a consortium of banks led by IDBI Bank Ltd. to Mumbai Airport Authority Ltd. (MIAL) is protected by their “fiduciary relationship” and therefore, it is none of the citizen’s business!

The appellant in this case, Pune-based RTI activist Sanjay Shirodkar is of course amazed to hear this from Mr Gandhi. But this order is likely to give RTI activists all over the country a serious case of heartburn.

Read Shailesh Gandhi’s Order: http://rti.india.gov.in/cic_decisions/CIC_SG_A_2011_002878_16667_M_73304.pdf

LOOK AT THE FACTS OF THE CASE:

· Mumbai International Airport is a Public Private Partnership (PPP) project.

· MIAL is the PPP consortium in which Airport Authority of India (i.e. Govt of India) has a 26% shareholding. GVK Industries Ltd, and two rather dubious Mauritius-based khokhacompanies hold the remaining 74% shares.

· MIAL is a major beneficiary of public funds – 2000 acres of prime land in Mumbai, valued at Rs 50,000 crore, for which it is paying AAI the princely sum of Rs 100 per annum as lease rent.

· MIAL is playing a governmental role. It is in whole-and-sole control of Mumbai Airport.

[All of this is the official position, confirmed by two previous orders given by Central Information Commission. CIC MM Ansari’s order in 2008, and then again by CIC Sushma Singh’s order in 2011: http://www.rti.india.gov.in/cic_decisions/CIC_MA_C_2008_00195_SS_M_57922.pdf ]

· And now, on the other side of the transaction, you have IDBI Bank – India’s fourth-largest PUBLIC SECTOR BANK, which extends a huge loan consisting of RS 4,200 CRORE OF PUBLIC MONEY.

OUR QUESTIONS TO SHAILESH GANDHI:

1. CIC Shailesh Gandhi, Sir, a public sector bank extends a huge INFRASTRUCTURE LOAN (and not a personal loan for, say, GVK Reddy’s daughter’s wedding) to a dodgy consortium. And you say it is NOT public interest? You say that this information is exempted from information, given the “fiduciary relationship” between the lender and the borrower?

2. This loan is for a Public-Private Partnership project, presumably for the use of the good of the Indian citizen. And you say that it is none of our business? That the underlying documents and details of the transaction, which Sanjay Shirodkar asked for, is a private matter between the two transacting parties?

3. MIAL is a well-known fugitive or defaulter as far as the Sunshine Act is concerned. They are consistently stonewalling activists from every angle. No sooner CIC orders them to disclose information, than MIAL goes to Delhi High Court and gets a stay. The only way to get any information from them is to go to other entities like IDBI. Surely you, of all the people, know that?

4. Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects of various kinds are, as a group, fugitives from RTI Act. They are regularly stonewalling and defying orders of Information Commissions. Under the cover of this secrecy, they are looting public moneys from various government entities. Hence the urgent need for citizens to get information from other routes such as public sector banks lending to them. Surely, Sir, you are aware of this?

5. And last but not least, on a very personal note: Three years ago, you introduced the appellant Sanjay Shirodkar to me, specifically to assist him in getting information from MIAL. Sir, have you forgotten?

If seeking Public Private Partnerships’ information is not in public interest, then maybe the PPPs themselves are not in public interest; they only serve the interest of the private parties involved, and the ministers and officials who are in their pay. Maybe it is time for us to agitate for immediate closure of all PPP projects.

[If anybody should wish to contact RTI appellant Sanjay Shirodkar, his contact details aresanjay.shirodkar@gmail.com 097663 13997 .

Warm Regards,

Krish

98215 88114

PS: Read the background-story: Govt of India leased 2000 acres to GVK Ltd for Rs 100 p.a. Is this justified? http://tinyurl.com/MIAL-2000-acres-khokha-cos

RTI Task force for transparency in Banks & Financial Sector

2012-01-08T19:36:00.002+05:30

Dear Friends,

A number of RTI activists are fighting for transparency in the banking sector, and their regulatory bodies. Whenever they have filed RTI applications for information from the banking sector – even where a large element of public interest is involved -- many activists have found that the banks are stonewalling and evading disclosures. RTI activists have many favourable orders from Central Information Commission to support them in their fight, but it is necessary for activists to come together on this issue and pool their energies.

In recent weeks, a number of activists have discussed with me about this area of need. (By a happy coincidence, I have been asked to address a meeting on this topic by Moneylife Foundation this week.)

So I am inviting you to not only participate in but spearhead a task force for transparency in this sector. If you have some experience with RTI on banks, or you are yourself a banker, we urge you to share your knowledge and insights with us.

WHY FOCUS ON BANKS? SOME SPECIFIC REASONS:

1. Banks play a key role in our lives. God forbid, if some major banks – or even relatively minor cooperative banks -- were to pack up tomorrow, we would be very badly hit. Therefore, their lending and investment policies are very much our concern. Banks – especially nationalized banks – cannot argue that what they do is their internal matter”, and of no concern to citizens!

2. Alarmingly, banks are increasingly acting like usurious money-lenders. Many of their loans – especially gold-loans and loans against property – are aimed at distressed borrowers who have been hit by recession and are struggling to maintain their lifestyle and business. A large proportion of such borrowers fail to repay their loans, and lose their assets. To promote borrowing in such an economic environment is exploitative: http://tinyurl.com/Bank-Loans-Aggressive-promos

3. Nationalized banks, private banks and cooperative banks have disproportionate clout. They are repositories of depositors’ moneys, and also retail as well as bulk lenders. Last but not least, they are investors participating in the equity markets and competing with small investors.

4. As bulk lenders and investors, they influence industrial growth. As retail lenders and savings banks, they determine consumer and investor behavior. By varying the interest rates on deposits and loans, they play a major role in determining whether the bulk of Indians invest in equity, put their money into fixed-income instruments, or use their money in buying consumer goods.

5. Banks and bankers actively shape the policies made by the Union Finance Ministry and Reserve Bank of India. The quality of their reporting to the government and regulatory bodies, and the pressures that they exert on governance, are key determinants on what happens to our nation. They actually have enough power to crash the economy singlehandedly!

6. Bad banks = costly bailouts using public moneys. Most banks are considered “too big to fail”. Government invariably steps in to rescue banks that are in trouble, using large amounts of public moneys for bailouts. This means that minding the business of banks is every citizen’s business!

7. Fuzzy lines in banking. The lines between non-banking finance companies and banks are blurred.

8. Conflicts of interest. With many banks like SBI becoming shareholders in loss-making companies like Kingfisher Airlines, and also project-finance to unscrupulous builders following bad and illegal practices, conflicts of interest are the norm rather than the exception.

I look forward to your early response.

Warm Regards,

Krish

98215 88114

thebravepedestrian.[AT].gmail.com

RTI ACT TO THE RESCUE: ‘Info officer is service provider’

2012-01-07T23:50:00.001+05:30

Hetal Vyas | TNN (Bangalore): In an order of far reaching consequences, a city consumer court has ruled that a government employee working as a public information officer (PIO) is also a “service provider”.

Hearing a complaint filed by a 62-year-old Halasuru resident, the 2nd additional district consumer disputes redressal forum, Seshadripuram, directed PIO and BBMP assistant executive engineer Bhagavan to pay Rs2,000 to the complainant for failing to provide him information sought under the Right To Information (RTI) Act. A bench of H V Ramachandra Rao and Balakrishna V Masali also directed the PIO to provide the information sought by G Gajendra, a resident of Purushottam Road, Halasuru within 45 days. Gajendra had, in July last, sought information on asphalting of Purushottam Road, Halasuru between January 1, 2000 and July 28, 2011. He had also sought the road history of the ward and documents pertaining to permission granted for road cutting to lay underground drainages and Cauvery water pipeline by BWSSB in this area.

For complete news pl visit: http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Daily/skins/TOINEW/navigator.asp?Daily=TOIBG&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI&AW=1325916288034

AMU – The rot within

2011-12-22T20:48:00.005+05:30

Note: For complete article please visit "AMU – The rot within" By Ehtasham Khan,

http://twocircles.net/2011dec21/amu_%E2%80%93_rot_within.html

In a meeting of the Academic Council held about a fortnight ago to discuss the entrance exam of the medical college, Aligarh Muslim University [AMU] vice chancellor Prof P K Abdul Azis reportedly hounded a senior professor out of the room. The professor had objected to a decision being taken by the vice chancellor. None of about a dozen senior professors sitting there objected to this behaviour.

In AMU, this autocratic and feudal style of functioning is a rule, not exception. ……
But how come one individual like Prof Azis be able to manipulate everything as per his convenience in this age of information, vigilance, alert media and active judiciary. The rot implies deep into the feudal culture of AMU…….

Syed Hamid, a person of international repute, has kept himself silent in the last five years even as the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and the judicial enquiry indicted...... Syed Hamid writes long essays in Urdu newspapers as soon as a VC leaves office. However, he maintains a comfortable silence, whenever corruptions are quite evident in the University.

Another important mute spectator is the former Chancellor of AMU Justice A M Ahmadi who was the former Chief Justice of India. Even Justice Ahmadi did not mince a word when the entire national media cried of the high-handedness and arbitrary actions of Prof Azis – from illegal termination of Prof Siras (who ultimately died) for having a different sexual orientation, to rusticating students who filed RTIs and exposed rampant corruption in AMU…..

Ray of hope: As the elite have almost been co-opted in power brokering, one can be quite hopeful of some students and teachers who have been fighting a solitary battle for the last five years. Despite victimisation, they have been filing RTIs and now even approached the court. The coming month would be crucial for AMU as it would set the agenda for another five years. Nobody knows what is in store.

Note: For complete article please visit "AMU – The rot within" By Ehtasham Khan,

http://twocircles.net/2011dec21/amu_%E2%80%93_rot_within.html

Police Knocks on RTI Applicants Door

2011-12-18T13:13:00.002+05:30

An RTI applicant Yusf Khan is reportedly being harassed by the Public Works Department (PWD) of UP Govt in Aligarh with the help of local police. The RTI activist had sought information related to horrible condition of rural roads and expenses incurred in their construction for 2009-10. He had appended a BPL Ration Card along with RTI application which the administration is contesting is "fake". It is to be noted that the information seeker claims that he is regularly being supplied ration and other items since 2006 on the same BPL Card. The Public Information Officer (PIO) instead of replying to queries, which was his duty, thought it proper to approach the police so as to harass the information seeker and warned his to desist from asking such questions.

The Problem is Judiciary: Sign this letter for Chief Justice of India, High Courts & Others

2011-12-17T11:09:00.003+05:30

Dear All,

For 99.99 percent Indians, seeking judicial remedies is impossible. Going to court is full of hurdles, such as:

Terribly expensive lawyers
Tareekh pe tareekh i.e. endless adjournments
Stay Orders for flimsy reasons
Difficult and time-consuming court procedures
Slavish court language from the colonial era
Frequent court vacations that breaks the flow of justice and adds to the delay

We all know how the judiciary nullifies many administrative and quasi-judicial processes. For example, civic bodies are almost helpless to demolish illegal structures and evict encroachers because courts routinely stay the demolition and eviction notices without applying their mind to the long-term consequences. Numerous well-reasoned orders of Information Commissioners are rendered ineffective by Stay Orders every month.

But we dare not give the judges any feedback. Why? Because we are afraid of being jailed for contempt of court. We fear the unquestioned authority of the judges and their power to harm us, either directly or through the cases we are involved in.

See the irony: We are not afraid of criticizing the Prime Minister and the President. But we tremble at the thought of speaking the indisputable truth to judges.

Friends, let us stop being afraid. Let us speak up and clearly state the inconvenient truth. Let us ask the judiciary to reform itself. Please remember the courts exist only to serve the common man; there is no other reason for their existence. As they are consistently failing to serve the common man, it is time for We The People to point out the areas of failure, and ask for immediate changes.

Eight of us, including five advocates practicing in the Supreme Court, Delhi and Bombay High Courts, have decided to speak out. On 25th December, we will dispatch hard copies of this letter to the Chief Justice of India, the Chief Justice of each and every High Court, President of the Bar Association of all High Courts, the Union Law Minister, and the Law Commission of India.

The below letter draft has been settled after many revisions, with key inputs from Supreme Court advocate Abdul Rasheed Qureshi and Bombay High Court advocate Ameet Mehta.

We urge you to join us by being signatories to this letter. Please send your email address and contact number for inclusion as signatories to grvora1@gmail.com .

Warm Regards,
Krish
98215 88114

FINAL DRAFT OF LETTER

25th December 2011

To
Hon. Justice S H Kapadia
Chief Justice of India
c/o The Registrar
Supreme Court of India
Tilak Marg, New Delhi-110 001

CC to:
Hon. Chief Justices of All High Courts
c/o The Registrar General

President, Bar Association
High Courts of all states

Shri Salman Khurshid
Union Minister for Law & Justice
South Block, New Delhi

Hon Justice P V Reddy
Chairman, 19th Law Commission
2nd floor, the Law Institute Building
Opposite Supreme Court
New Delhi 110 001.

You have placed Judiciary beyond the reach of the Common Man,
Especially Senior Citizens.
Please Remedy this Situation.

Dear Sir,

We The People of India are addressing ourselves to you as the administrative head of India’s Judiciary, and not in your judicial capacity. Sir, before you retire in a few months, we hope you will apply your wisdom as an enlightened administrative reformer and do away with some archaic judicial traditions that are harming our nation.

Sir, victims of the high-handed ways of the judiciary, such as defendants and petitioners, cannot speak out. They fear that your brother judges will harm their cause by issuing some arbitrary orders. We are speaking on their behalf.

India’s judicial machinery is no longer available to senior citizens. No senior citizen can file a case, as it is unlikely to reach final judgement stage before 15-20 years by when he/she will be senile or dead.

Common people – even reasonably wealthy ones -- cannot go to court because it requires uncontrollable expenses of lakhs of rupees, which drain away their life-savings.

Over the decades, there has been a gross failure in administration of the judicial machinery. Many judges are pointing this out in their speeches at various forums. These speeches only remain good to hear, as nothing gets done afterwards.

The zealously guarded doctrine of Independence of Judiciary has ensured inability of successive governments and parliament to reform our judiciary. Only the judiciary can reform itself. The Supreme Court is the overall court of superintendence. Sir, the administrative powers needed to pull up the socks of the judiciary which are centered on you and you alone. If you don’t do it, nobody can force you to do it. What is worse, nobody can even raise their voice, criticize you for your administrative failure, and threaten to replace you with a more competent administrator, because that would invite Contempt.

Only you, Hon’ble Chief Justice of India, can initiate reforms of our judiciary, and the first step will be for you to candidly admit the judiciary’s flaws, and set out a roadmap with a timetable for change.

Regardless of whether we are currently litigants before any court, all of us are suffering from severe handicaps and frustrations in our daily lives because of the judiciary’s unavailability to us, and lack of the judiciary’s protection. Please heed our voices, because we are aggrieved stakeholders.

Some Problems & Proposed Solutions:

Problem 1: Easy and indefinite Stay Orders. Sir, numerous well-reasoned judgments of lower courts, tribunals and quasi-judicial forums such as RTI Information Commissions are granted Stay for the asking. Various administrative orders and notices for demolition etc. issued by civic authorities, targeting unauthorized and illegal activity, are also indefinitely stayed. It requires great effort to get a Stay vacated. This nullifies various laws, creates a dead end for law enforcement agencies as well as law-abiding citizens, and creates widespread cynicism about lawful methods. Proposed Solution: Firstly, issue a directive that if a matter is stayed by any court, the case should automatically become fast-track. Please give short dates of maximum one-week intervals so that the party that has got a stay order does not enjoy undue benefit of judicial delay. The case should come to finality typically within three months, and in exceptional cases, six months. Secondly, make it mandatory that a stay order shall automatically lapse after six months have passed, so that the beneficiary of the stay does not seek refuge in delaying tactics.

Problem 2: Adjournments for the asking. The proceedings of High Court and all lower courts can be summed up in one Hindi movie phrase: tareekh pe tareekh (date after date). In Sessions and Magistrate’s Courts, the proceedings cannot even be understood. Undertrials and accused parties are summoned every 2-3 months, and sent back with a new date, clueless as to why their hearing did not happen. Their carefully submissions are not heard. Sometimes, if pressed, the court staff give flimsy explanations. Thousands of man-hours of the court, police and general public are being wasted, and as the years pass, memories fade, witnesses turn hostile, and justice becomes meaningless. Only lawyers gain from this ongoing delay. Proposed Solution: Please issue a directive mandating steeply rising penalty on both lawyers and parties for each successive adjournment sought e.g. first adjournment, Rs 2,000 penalty; second adjournment, Rs 5,000; and third and final adjournment, Rs 15,000.

Problem 3: Widely spaced dates. With dates that are sometimes six months apart, litigations drag on for years and decades – sometimes with the undertrial persons in judicial custody, denying them their fundamental right of life and liberty! Proposed Solution: Firstly, issue a directive mandating closely clustered dates of 15-30 days interval, and never more than a total of 10 dates. It is the studied opinion of many advocates that all cases in trial courts, High Courts and Supreme Court can easily be brought to finality in 7 to 10 dates. Secondly, make it mandatory to serve the opponents/respondents notice in advance, eliminating two dates at the outset.

Problem 4: Court of Surprises, not Court of Law. Hiding behind their ill-tempered behavior in court and their powers of Contempt, judges give utterly whimsical interim orders, reliefs and judgments that cannot be upheld by legal reasoning. Many well-reasoned orders and judgments of lower courts are struck down or re-opened by higher courts on flimsy grounds. Such judgments often favour influential or wealthy persons. Proposed Solution: Please set up a judicial audit mechanism to scrutinize suspicious judgments and their reasoning. Judges who do not reason well must be questioned and criticized by their own peers.

Problem 5: Astronomical charges of senior counsels, and network of kickbacks. Senior counsels are charging insane amounts, such as Rs 5-to-20 lakh per appearance. Even if they are merely required to stand up for a moment in court and request adjournment, they charge the full amount. They also charge several lakh rupees for a few minutes of consultation. If they appear in other courts, then the charges run into crores of rupees per appearance. Less-well-known advocates convince their clients to engage such senior counsels, in return of kickbacks. The clerks and juniors of such super-rich legal luminaries “manage” the courts, getting comfortable dates and bench re-assignments for getting “friendly” judges. Their face value and money power ensures even if the case has no merits, “strict” judges listen patiently to lengthy lectures from them before passing an order! Inspired by such senior counsels, lesser known lawyers hike their fees by leaps and bounds, taking justice out of the reach of the common man, and giving an undue advantage to the super-rich. Nowadays, only companies can afford lawyers. Proposed Solution: To make courts affordable to the common man, please impose a reasonable fee-structure on all lawyers practicing in every level of the judiciary, especially the higher judiciary. Those violating the mandatory fee-structure should be debarred from representing clients or appearing in court.

Problem 6: Culture of egotism and sycophancy. Lawyers continually pamper judges’ egos with servile colonial expressions like “Your Lordship”, “Milord”, “Prayers”, “We crave your leave,” “We humbly pray”, and “For this favour we will ever be ever in your debt”. Even court stationery comes with such slavish language, although the citizen is only asking for the rights guaranteed to him by the Constitution, and not begging for out-of-the-way favours. Judges deny justice to lawyers or citizens who resist this culture. Citizens who appear before court as Party-In-Person to represent their own cause are bullied and harried. This promotion of slavishness is a violation of fundamental rights of equality, life and liberty within the premises of the judiciary. Proposed Solution: Please ban such unwholesome language. Please ensure that henceforth, in speech and in writing, all judges are addressed only as ‘Sir’.

Problem 7: Civil contempt of court, giving false evidence, perjury etc. are taken lightly. Although the courts are quick to punish criminal contempt i.e. breach of court propriety, they are not offended when their judgments are disobeyed. Also, they wink at false documents, false evidence and outright lies in court. This gives crooks the upper hand over upright citizens. Proposed Solution: Please set aside a clear time-slot in every court for ensuring implementation of court orders, and taking up issues of false evidence etc.

Problem 8: Colonial practice of lengthy vacations & short working hours. Lower courts work for about 240 days in a year, High Courts for 210 days and Supreme Court for 188 days only i.e. 50% of the year. In summer, the entire judiciary – judges, lawyers, clerks and all – shuts down for 5 to 7 weeks of continuous holidays. The Supreme court goes on vacation from May 10th till June 30th. No other organ of administration takes such a luxury. The working hours per day are as little as 3-4 hours in many courts. In view of the rising pendency of cases, such luxurious working habits are not only unconscionable, but a waste of scarce national resources (the court infrastructure), and a criminal neglect of We The People! Proposed Solution: Firstly, please slash the number of holidays to 60 days, (which is still far more than anybody else takes nowadays, whether in government or in private sector). Secondly, let these vacations not be taken en masse, but in a staggered way so that the entire court does not shut down. Last but not least, please mandate that judges at every level must hear cases in court for at least six hours per day.

Sir, many citizens’ forums have patiently compiled and put across these points for several years, but the judiciary has been ignoring them. Everybody’s patience has reached a limit now.

We hope that before you retire, you will seize the opportunity given to you by your high office for implementing these urgently-needed reforms. And we hope you will frankly voice your intentions and enable right-minded citizens to strengthen your hands.

Yours Sincerely,

1.A Rasheed Qureshi, 7838408078 rasheed1357[at]yahoo.co.in, Advocate, Delhi

2.G R Vora, 9869195785, grvora1[at]gmail.com, Pathologist, Mumbai

3.Krishnaraj Rao, 9821588114, thebravepedestrian[at]gmail.com, Journalist, Mumbai

4.Aires Rodrigues, 9822684372, airesrodrigues1[at]gmail.com, Advocate, Goa

5. Ameet Mehta, 9821283232, ameetvmehta[at]gmail.com, Advocate, Mumbai

6.Aryan Yadav,9717468613, aryanscadvocate[at]gmail.com, Advocate, Delhi

7. Rameez Tauheed, 09891664368, tauheedrameez[at]gmail.com, Engineer, Delhi

8. Vinod Sampat, 9324038095, vinodsampat[at]gmail.com, Advocate, Mumbai

List of mailing addresses of Chief Justices etc. (work in progress): http://tinyurl.com/CourtsOfIndia

CWG Scam: Shunglu Committee Spent Roughly 1 Crore a Month

2011-12-10T13:31:00.006+05:30

Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh had on Oct 25, 2010 appointed a High Level Committee (HLC) under chairmanship of former Comptroller and Auditor General Shri V K Shunglu to look into look into various aspects of corruption and other issues relating to the organizing and conduct of Commonwealth Games 2010. The committee has submitted six reports on broadcasting, Games Village, city infrastructure, Games venues, Organising Committee and main report — Organisation and Conduct of CWG 2010.

The Sunnglu Committee in its various Reports has cited instances of irregularities, procedural lapses, delay in execution of the works, financial loss to the Government, favouring of Contractors, not following the proper procedure in awarding contracts, use of sub standard material and purchase of material at higher cost, irregular appointment of various staff/consultants, lack of supervision/control over the contractors/staff etc. It has in some cases also recommended investigations by various agencies. Apart from the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Enforcement Directorate and the Income Tax authorities are also investigating alleged irregularities. The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) is also examining various complaints regarding the Games. The other recommendations of the HLC including those related to corrective action are also being examined carefully by the Government in consultation with the Ministries concerned.

In response to RTI query filed by Dr Mohammed Naved Khan , member of RTI Group and who teaches at Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Management Studies & Research, Aligarh Muslim University, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has provided that Shunglu Committee had spent roughly Rs 4 Crores (Rupees 40,000,000) in the first 4 months alone.

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Dainik Jagran, National Edition, New Delhi, Dec 10, 2011, Front Page

शुंगलू समिति ने चार माह की जांच में खर्च किए चार करोड़

अलीगढ़, जागरण संवाददाता : राष्ट्रमंडल खेल घोटाले की जांच करने वाली शुंगलू समिति ने चार माह में करीब चार करोड़ खर्च किए थे। एक आरटीआइ अर्जी के जवाब में इसका खुलासा हुआ है। गौरतलब है कि राष्ट्रमंडल खेलों के आयोजन में मनमाने खर्चो और गलत फैसलों की जांच के लिए प्रधानमंत्री मनमोहन सिंह के आदेश पर वीके शुंगलू की अध्यक्षता में इस समिति का गठन किया गया था। अलीगढ़ मुस्लिम यूनिवर्सिटी (एएमयू) के डिपार्टमेंट ऑफ बिजनेस स्टडीज के फैकल्टी मेंबर और आरटीआइ कार्यकर्ता डॉ. नवेद खान ने इस संबंध में सूचना मांगी थी। दैनिक जागरण के पास मौजूद दस्तावेज बताते हैं कि शुंगलू समिति ने चार महीने में करीब चार करोड़ रुपये खर्च किए हैं। कॉमनवेल्थ घोटाले की जांच के लिए कैबिनेट सचिव ने 25 अक्टूबर 2010 को आदेश जारी किए थे। वीके शुंगलू की अध्यक्षता में उच्च स्तरीय समिति बनाई गई थी। सदस्य थे शांतनु कंसुल। कमेटी को जांच का काम पूरा करने के लिए दिल्ली के विज्ञान भवन में दफ्तर दिया गया था। खेल मंत्रालय को हिदायत थी कि वह जांच संबंधी दस्तावेजों को लाने-ले जाने और दूसरी प्रशासनिक जरूरतों में मदद करे। कमेटी ने 24 अक्टूबर को आदेश मिलने के साथ महा-खेल की जांच शुरू की। 23 मार्च तक कमेटी ने तनख्वाह पर 48.07 लाख खर्च किए। कार्यालय पर 14.18 लाख खर्च हुए हैं। सबसे ज्यादा पैसा फूंका गया प्रोफेशनल एक्सपेंसेस (जांच के लिए जुटाए गए संसाधन और सुविधाओं पर खर्च) पर। इसमें तीन करोड़ 39 लाख 32 हजार 250 रुपये खर्च आया है। कमेटी ने अंतरिम रिपोर्ट 29 जनवरी-2011 को दाखिल की थी, जिसके आधार पर केंद्र जांच सीबीआइ को सौंप दी।

Supreme Court: Reveal Answer Sheets to Students

2011-12-09T15:49:00.002+05:30

A Bench of Justices R.V. Raveendran and A.K. Patnaik delivered the judgment in Civil Appeal No. 6454 of 2011 [arising out of SLP ( C) No. 7526/2009 on August 9, 2011] while allowing disclosure of answer sheets of students in public examinations.

Acknowledging that Right to Information is a cherished right and a formidable tool in the hands of responsible citizens to fight corruption and to bring about transparency and accountability, the Supreme Court, said the RTI Act provisions should be enforced strictly and all efforts made to bring to light the necessary information under Section 4 (4) (b) which “relates to securing transparency and accountability in the working of public authorities and in discouraging corruption.”

Dismissing the oft repeated alibi that the examining bodies held the answer books in their fiduciary capacity, the Bench observed that “Once the examiner has evaluated the answer books, he ceases to have any interest in the evaluation done by him. He does not have any copyright or proprietary right or confidentiality right in regard to the evaluation. Therefore, it cannot be said that the examining body holds the evaluated answer books in a fiduciary relationship, qua the examiner. As no other exemption under Section 8 of the RTI Act is available in respect of evaluated answer books, the examining bodies will have to permit inspection.”

Justices Raveendran and Patnaik while upholding Calcutta High Court order gave the ruling which allows students to see their answer scripts of any professional or educational exam once the result has been declared. However, to protect the safety and identity of the examiners, their details would not be shared with the RTI applicant. The apex court judgment is expected to bring in much needed reforms and transparency in the examination system of the country.

Rebel with a cause: Meet India’s youngest RTI activist

2011-11-08T12:22:00.003+05:30

FirstPost.com

Story by Pallavi Polanki Oct 27, 201:

.....On 20 December 2010, Mobashshir was sent an expulsion notice, banning him from campus and debarring him from exams for “unending complaints of misbehavior and indiscipline”.

In March, after his appeals to the administration fell on deaf ears, Mobashshir filed a writ petition in the Delhi High Court challenging his expulsion. The school, since, has been directed by the high court to hold supplementary exams for Mobashshir and allow him to attend classes while the case remains pending.....

For complete Story Please visit:

http://www.firstpost.com/india/rebel-with-a-cause-meet-indias-youngest-rti-activist-117796.html

Why has Annaji’s roar silenced Mrs Smita Pednekar’s voice?

2011-09-11T18:19:00.001+05:30

The Jan Lokpal Bill debate has marginalized the voices of public servants like municipal employees and bus drivers. Why? Don’t they deserve a say in framing a law that will affect their daily lives?

Fellow Members of Civil Society,

Come, let us put aside our virtuous outrage for a moment, and step into the shoes of one of those ordinary men and women running our public transport, water supply and other civic services. For instance, let us see life through the eyes of Mrs Smita Pratap Pednekar.

Mrs Pednekar sells tickets at a railway counter; you and your family members may have bought a ticket from her. She lives in the Railway Employees’ Colony at Dahisar, a distant suburb of Mumbai. She and her husband Pratap work for Indian Railways.

Every day after work, Mrs Pednekar commutes by train, buys vegetables and fish and gets home to her children and elderly mother-in-law. Then she cooks dinner before her husband returns home.

Mrs Pednekar does not get envelopes of cash under the table. Her conscience is clear, but she is afraid. What she fears most is office politics. She is worried about the prospect of being posted at a distant office. Both she and her husband have insecurities about loss of seniority, loss of increments etc, as some of their corrupt colleagues enjoy undue influence.

Mrs Pednekar avoids taking sides in any controversy. She pretends not to know anything. But in January, her husband was required to give evidence against a colleague at a departmental enquiry. Since then, some people at her office have been giving her dirty looks and stopped sharing their lunch with her. She is constantly afraid that they are looking for opportunities to victimize her.

With the whole of India shouting patriotic slogans like ‘Inquilab Zindabad’ in one voice, Mrs Smita Pednekar has lost her voice.

Nowadays, silence dominates the Pednekar household. There is none of the usual light conversation when the family sits down on the floor with stainless-steel thalis, and Mrs Pednekar serves fish curry and rice. She tells the children to eat in silence. She scolds her mother-in-law for switching on TV news channels, and makes her switch off the television.

Mrs Pednekar used to discuss current topics and politics within the family, but now she keeps her thoughts to herself. She changes the topic when the children ask why Anna Hazare fasted at Ramlila Maidan, and what is the Jan Lokpal Bill all about. One day, they came home from school wearing Gandhi topis painted with the words, ‘I am Anna Hazare’. She has had a sinking feeling in her stomach since that day.

On Raksha Bandhan, Mrs Pednekar visited her brother’s house on the 20th floor of Oberoi Woods, Goregaon. Her brother and sister-in-law are rich; they have private sector jobs. While they were having lunch together, a news channels was loudly discussing Anna Hazare’s insistence on including the junior staff of government under the Jan Lokpal Bill. This triggered a conversation about how the whole nation was up in arms against junior staff and their corruption. Her husband Pratap took a stand against the Jan Lokpal Bill, and loudly argued with her brother and sister-in-law, and everybody else who was working in the private sector. Alarmed by the rising voices, Smita gently pinched her husband, called him inside and pleaded with him. “What will people think? They will say that you are supporting corruption! We are government employees; remember that and keep quiet!” she whispered. The couple made some excuses and hurriedly left as the others loudly continued the discussion in their absence.

Mrs Pednekar is in awe of Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal, and other great people fasting in all over the country and debating corruption on television. Surely they know all about corruption, otherwise why would they be talking so loudly, she reasons. She thinks that a “strong Lokpal Bill” is generally a good thing if it makes the country cleaner and less corrupt. But the point of the Bill should not be to threaten people like her with enquiries, penalties and imprisonment, she feels.

She feels greatly confused by Annaji’s demand for such harsh provisions against her; the fact that a good man like him says that he will go on indefinite fast for this demand makes her very uncomfortable. Is Annaji with me or against me, she wonders. “Annaji is a good and simple man. So why is he fasting for punishing good and simple people like me and my husband?” she wonders.

Mrs Pednekar’s experiences have given her reason to fear legal processes. She believes that proceedings generally go against those who are less able to defend themselves, rather than those who are truly guilty. So she fears that Jan Lokpal Bill will punish people like herself, who are voiceless. She is afraid that more resourceful colleagues will connive together to use such a law to target her and her husband.

But she is in no position to say all this, because she and her husband are government servants, and therefore excluded from “civil society”. Everybody is listening only to civil society nowadays; they think government servants are all corrupt, and therefore their views don’t count.

Respected Annaji & Arvind, the deafening roar of “civil society” has isolated and silenced Mrs Smita Pednekar’s voice. Will you please give her back her voice? Will you please hold consultations at Railway Employees Colony and other colonies where government employees live? Will you go to various employees associations?

Will you go there and explain to them why there is a need for a Jan Lokpal Bill that punishes Group B, C And D employees? And will you please hear and understand what such employees have to say in this matter?

Warm Regards,

Krish

98215 88114

Pictorial Analysis of Govt Lokpal & Jan Lokpal

2011-09-01T16:16:00.004+05:30

How do the two Bills before the Standing Committee -- Govt Lokpal & Jan Lokpal -- propose to eradicate corruption from the country? Each proposes a very different mechanism. How is one superior to the other?

1) To form a visual idea of key differences between the Govt Lokpal and Jan Lokpal structure and workflow, see this flow-chart: http://tinyurl.com/Flowchart-JanLokpal-GovtLokpal

2) To understand merits and demerits of each system, see this comparison of the various sections of the two Lokpal Bills that are currently before the Rajya Sabha Standing Committee: http://tinyurl.com/Jan-Lokpal-versus-Govt-Lokpal

PLEASE BEAR IN MIND, THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH. Jan Lokpal Bill specifies that the Lokpal’s budget may be one-fourth percent of the revenues of Govt of India, and will be directly charged to Consolidated Fund of India.

How much is one-fourth percent of the Union Govt’s Revenues? Let us calculate: Union Budget 2010-11 says that total receipts in Consolidated Fund (revenue plus capital receipts) are Rs 46,62,263 crore. One-fourth percent of that amount is Rs. 11,656 crore.

Just to give you an idea of how much money this is: This amount is more than 10% of Indian Railways gross earnings for the year. So, the ticket fare of one-in-ten passengers (and also the freight earning of one-in-ten goods trains may go directly to running the Lokpal establishment!

That is not necessarily a bad thing. But this enormous figure only confirms that this is an important issue, involving your money and mine. Please spend 10 minutes studying this and form your own opinion based on documents -- and not based on what everybody else is saying.

Carefully read the observations in the right-hand column of the table. If you disagree, look at the sections of both Lokpal Bills in the same row of the table to the left of the observations.

Remember, eternal vigilance is the price that we all have to pay for liberty. Don’t let other people do your thinking for you.

Warm Regards,

Krish

98215 88114

----------------------------------------------------

Dear Friends,

In the attached Lokpal Flow Charts:

RED ARROWS SHOW INPUTS AND OUTPUTS. Both the charts show inputs i.e. Citizens’ Complaints as red arrows. They also show the outputs i.e. action taken against corrupt public servants as red arrows. The only aim of our “inputs” is to get “outputs”. We write complaints only because we want action against Corrupt officials.

BLUE ARROWS SHOW INTERNAL PROCESSES OF LOKPAL AND COURTS. Once the complaint goes to Jan Lokpal, a chain of events happens inside the mechanism of Lokpal. Directions are given to Investigation Wing, Investigation Wing presents preliminary evidence to Lokpal bench, Lokpal Bench directs the Prosecution Wing to file chargesheet against the accused, etc. Some events happen between Lokpal and external agencies such as Police e.g. Police is directed to search and seize documents.

THE ARROWS ARE NUMBERED TO SHOW SEQUENCE OF EVENTS. The citizens’ complaint is event no. 1 – the trigger. The final events are directions given by Lokpal for Departmental Action against the public servant, or the Special Court’s judgment against public servant. This may be shown as event no. 5.

Friends, the attached flow-charts are only indicative. They are not exhaustive, and therefore, they do not enable us to compare ALL the salient features of the two systems.

For detailed study of the pros and cons of both systems, read: http://tinyurl.com/Jan-Lokpal-versus-Govt-Lokpal

The main points of comparison and remarks are in the right-hand column of the table. If you disagree with the remarks, please read the sections of each Bill on the left, and draw your own conclusions.

This is a crucial issue of the times we are living in. It is important to form a reasoned opinion, based on facts and scientific thinking. Don’t be led by the hype. Don’t let other people do your thinking for you.

Warm Regards,

Krishnaraj Rao

Mumbai

98215 88114

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How & Where to Complain: Friendly Guide for Problem-Solving in India

2011-07-30T20:21:00.002+05:30

Dear Mr & Ms Activist,

All around us, people are struggling:

Aggrieved citizens wishing to get relief from personal problems
Victims of exploitation, ignorance and poverty trying to escape the clutches of their exploiters
Activists acting on behalf of society or downtrodden people
Lawyers, CAs and other professionals acting on behalf of clients

We often feel frustrated and hopeless. We blame police, courts and information commissions for being uncaring, inefficient and corrupt. Of course, there is a lot of truth in this, but…

But there is another truth which we don’t look at: We ourselves fail to properly present problems before various forums. We mix up important law points with trivial, unnecessary details. We cannot distinguish personal grievances from criminal breach of law. We fail to draw a line between private interest and public interest. And so we present a miscellaneous bag of personal problems, civil disputes and criminal complaints, plus anger and frustration. Even a well-meaning judge or appellate authority cannot make sense of such a mish-mash – and therefore, he postpones or gives half-baked judgments.

There is a simple principle that we must remember: TO GET A CLEAR OUTPUT FROM THE SYSTEM, WE MUST GIVE CLEAR INPUTS. Many problems, including lengthy pendency before courts, information commissions etc. are because citizens and activists have failed to give clear inputs.

GUIDELINES FOR COMPLAINING BEFORE ANY FORUM:

A. EXCLUDE PERSONAL PROBLEMS. Things that trouble us personally (e.g. rudeness, bullying, playing politics, making us repeatedly visit the office etc.) must be separated from the legal problems (e.g. violations of law, denial of information, refusing to perform official duties, giving orders and directions that are not as per law etc). On most forums, exclude the personal matters and talk only about the legal ones.

B. CITE THE RELEVANT LAWS & RULES. Each forum operates from a distinct set of laws and rules, and we should cite them in our complaint. For instance, the State Information Commission (SIC) exists to implement and interpret the Right to Information Act 2005, and the State RTI Rules. Also, the working of the State Information Commission is governed by the state’s Appeal Procedure Rules. Therefore, invoke the correct sections of the RTI Act and Rules while drafting your complaint or appeal. Also, follow the dictates of the Appeal Procedure Rules. Another example: the police derives its various powers from the Bombay Police Act, the Bombay Police Manual and Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). While registering the FIR, tolice refers to various sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC). When we file a police complaint, it helps if we know about these things, and are able to cite sections of the law where necessary.

C. EXCLUDE POLITICAL VIEWS. Avoid making remarks like, “Congress is behind all the corruption” or “Lawless Shiv Sena elements are behind all this trouble”. You never know the political views of the judge or appellate authority; if he holds views contrary to yours, such remarks will harm your case.

D. PRIORITIZE. On any forum, you are required to give complaint or petition IN WRITING. Usually 2-3 pages will be read, with only a passing glance at other pages. So you need to emphasize all the crucial points in the main 2-3 pages. When asked to state your problem ORALLY, you will be given 2-3 minutes maximum. So come to the point very quickly to retain the attention of the appellate authority, judge etc. As this person hears dozens of cases every day and is mentally tired, you must make the matter easy to understand within the first few sentences you speak, without rambling, preaching or going into too much history.

E. SEPARATE THE COMPONENTS. We must divide the problem in our own mind -- separate it into private or business dispute, civil dispute, criminal offences, emotional trauma etc. We must apply these criteria:

(i) What has proof (i.e. proper documents) versus what has no proof (i.e. improper or no documents)

(ii) What issues have importance before law, versus what issues are important for ego reasons of showing that we are “right”

(iii) Which battles are absolutely essential to our cause (as against the battles we can afford to retreat from in order to conserve our own energies)

(iv) What points must be communicated within limited attention span (Two page-letter, Six bullet points, Subject-line or heading of Maximum 10 words, first paragraph of 100 words only. What to say in a three-minute verbal presentation. What are the first four sentences to speak after saying “Good morning”.)

(v) What aspects must NOT be highlighted, in order to avoid muddying the waters or spoiling the case

(vi) Exactly which actions of the opposite party violates which section of the law, rules etc. Give facts and figures.

(vii) Which actions according to us may be genuine mistakes, and which ones are deliberate and in bad faith. Highlight the ones that show criminal negligence, fraud etc.

(viii) How exactly we (private individuals or public) are affected by each violation. Give facts and figures.

(ix) Which fundamental rights are violated – exactly which article of the Constitution

(x) What are the regulator’s responsibilities and legal mandates

(xi) What are our “Prayers”? What directions and order doe we require from this legal forum?

(xii) What “interim reliefs” do we “pray” for? What must be urgently granted by the appellate authority or regulator to prevent further harm?

F. BE REALISTIC. No single forum can solve all our problems. And if we activate half a dozen forums all at once, we will not be able to handle the pressure of attending various hearings etc. So we should decide which forums to activate, and which ones to forget for the time being.

By their nature, many problems come all mixed-up together. We have to separate and simplify them, and understand WHICH LEGAL FORUMS ARE COMPETENT TO HANDLE THIS, AND HOW.

EXAMPLE:

Mr X and Mr Y are brothers having a property dispute. X has occupied Y’s share of the family house, which they inherited from their father. Desperate to reclaim his share of the house, Y breaks the lock and enters. X arrives on the scene and they fight. The local police station arrests Y and registers an FIR, with charges of house-trespass, attempted robbery etc. Now Y is in judicial custody.

MR Y’S WIFE APPROACHES YOU, THE ACTIVIST, FOR HELP. HER WISHLIST:

· Reliable lawyer

· Husband must get bail and come home soon.

· Husband’s name must be cleared in court.

· Her half of the family house.

· Revenge or “justice”

· Peace and an end to all her problems

· Not having to endlessly attend court hearings and pay costly lawyers.

WHAT WILL YOU DO, MR & MS ACTIVIST? If you are willing to support Mr & Mrs Y in sorting out their problems, let us analyze this problem together.

WHERE THE SOLUTIONS TO MRS Y’s PROBLEM LIE:

· LAWYER OR FREE LEGAL AID. You have to introduce Mrs Y to a good lawyer to procure bail. If she is poor and unable to pay for legal services, a lawyer must take her case on a charitable basis. So Mrs Y must be introduced to a legal aid cell. You may also have to help her financially for the bail amount

· POLICE. If the criminal offences that Y is charged with are categorized as “compoundable” (i.e. they can be withdrawn by the complainant), then X can withdraw the complaint against him. The relevant portions of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) must be understood and explained to X. If the offences are “not compoundable”, then Y needs legal advice as to what he should say or refrain from saying before the magistrate. For instance, when charged, he has the choice of whether to plead guilty or to remain quiet. The legal rights of Y, the powers and duties of the police, and the procedures followed by the police in criminal investigation and prosecution have to be clearly understood.

· OUT-OF-COURT SETTLEMENT. If charges against Y are “compoundable”, then it may be advisable for Mrs Y to swallow her pride, approach Mr X and reach a settlement of some sort. Family elders and other respected people may invited to advise and mediate between the two sides for a reasonable solution.

· CRIMINAL COURT i.e. metropolitan magistrate’s court will decide whether or not Mr Y gets bail, and in the course of the trial, whether he is acquitted or punished. Court procedures and criminal law points must therefore be understood, and Mr & Mrs Y have to be suitably advised.

· CIVIL COURT. X is said to be in occupation of Y’s share. If there are documents to prove this, a case can be made out in civil court so that Mr & Mrs Y get back their share of the property.

· ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION i.e. ARBITRATOR / MEDIATOR. To resolve the property dispute, a formal arbitration agreement can be drawn up, and retired judge or professional arbitrator can be engaged. This may be a better option, compared to a case in Civil Court. But to bring X to the negotiation table, it is necessary that he should fear being dragged into a property dispute in civil court.

Thus we see that even a simple fight between brothers may involve many problem-solving forums. In the wider context of society – both private grievances and public interest issues -- let us look at all the forums applicable. The usefulness of each forum varies. Some are best avoided; for instance, going to civil court may take up so much time and money that it isn’t worth it! But we must know all our options before we decide.

32 PROBLEM SOLVING FORUMS:

1. POLICE and its specialized wings e.g. Cyber Crime Wing, Economic Offences Wing (EOW), Social Service wing of police, Women’s Cell, Senior Citizens’ Cell etc.

2. GOVT. AND ADMINISTRATION OFFICES. The recommendatory and decision-making powers of the Minister, Secretary of the Department etc. can be extremely useful. Each ministry and department is a forum e.g. Investors can complain against a company to Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

3. HEADS OF LICENSING AUTHORITIES e.g. Joint Secretary of Union Ministry of Information & Broadcasting for bad advertisements, Assistant Engineer Building Proposal Department (Municipal Corporation) for buildings

4. DEPARTMENTAL VIGILANCE OFFICER (DVO) of each department, bank etc.

5. VIGILANCE ORGANIZATIONS e.g. Bureau of Industrial Standards (BIS), Department of Weights & Measures, Food & Drugs Administration (FDA)

6. TRIBUNALS e.g. Income Tax Tribunal, Sales Tax Tribunal etc. (Presided over by Chief Commissioner of Income Tax (CCIT), Chief Commissioner of Sales Tax etc.

7. APPELLATE AUTHORITIES especially RTI First Appellate Authority and Information Commission

8. GOVT. REGULATORS e.g. Investors can complain to Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Electricity Consumers can complain to Maharashtra Elecricity Regulatory Commission (MERC). Mobile consumers can complain to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). Bank depositors and borrowers can complain to Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

9. TRADE GUILDS e.g. Advertising Standard’s Council of India (ASCI) for bad advertisements, Indian Medical Council (IMC) for medical malpractices by doctors, Indian Institute of Architects (IIA) for fraudulent practices by architects etc.

10. OMBUDSMAN e.g. Insurance Ombudsman of IRDA, Banking Ombudsman of RBI, Ombudsman of individual newpapers for fairness in reporting, advertising etc.

11. LOK AYUKTA, LOK PAL and other bodies set up by govt. to receive public complaints such as Maharashtra Corruption Eradication Committee

12. CENTRAL & STATE VIGILANCE COMMISSIONS (CVC & SVC)

13. CENTRAL & STATE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSIONS (CHRC and SHRC)

14. OTHER COMMISSIONS such as Women’s Commission, Minorities Commission, Child Rights Commission etc.

15. MEDIATOR / ARBITRATOR appointed by parties. (Arbitration is covered under Arbitration & Conciliation Act 1996.)

16. CIVIL COURTS

17. MAGISTRATE, SESSIONS COURT AND CRIMINAL COURTS

18. JUVENILE JUSTICE NATIONAL DESK and other mechanisms set up under Juvenile Justice Act 2000

19. HIGH COURT -- APPELLATE SIDE as authority to hear appeals against lower courts, tribunals etc.)

20. HIGH COURT -- ORIGINAL SIDE as authority to hear Writ Petition, Public Interest Litigation etc.

21. CONSUMER COURT for taking up consumer related issues.

22. COOPERATIVE COURT for matters concerning cooperative societies of all sorts e.g. housing, cooperative banks, marketing cooperatives, etc.

23. FAMILY COURT for divorce, child support and child custody issues, etc.

24. SUPREME COURT

25. CONSUMER GRIEVANCE REDRESSAL CELL of each Public Sector Unit, Public Limited Company etc.

26. GRIEVANCE REDRESSAL CELLS FORMED BY NGOs for women’s protection etc.

27. MEDIA & JOURNALISTS if your complaint has strong elements of public interest. Media helps to build up public pressure, which sometimes compels the authorities to act.

28. ADVISORS. Lawyers and experts who give legal advice, secretarial services etc. for filing complaints

29. GOVERNMENT INSIDERS e.g. MLAs, MPs, ministers etc. whose word matters, rightly or wrongly. Also retired officers etc who can put in a “friendly word” and speed up the action.

30. NATIONAL ADVISORY COUNCIL, which exercises tremendous clout for policy decisions in public interest issues

31. LOK SABHA & RAJYA SABHA COMMITTEE ON PETITIONS, which exercise great influence in policy making in matters of public interest

32. NGOs, ASSOCIATIONS, CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE and other pressure groups help to amplify a citizen’s battle against companies or government, especially in matters of public interest

To approach any of these forums, there is a different requirement. Each issue or problem may have aspects that are relevant to one or more of these forums. Forget the limitations of these forums such as corruption, bureaucratic red-tape, pendency etc; let us first take care of our own limitations, and learn to complain in the proper ways to each forum.

YOU, MY FRIEND, ARE THE KEY TO YOUR OWN SUCCESS. Are you able to analyze the problem realistically, without too much emotion and ego? Are you able to free up enough time and mental energy from your day-to-day work for implementation of your various ideas? Are you passionate enough to devote serious time and money, day after day, week after week, year after year? Can you speak up confidently before your chosen forums for justice?

In the end, this makes the difference between winning and losing. This will determine your success in resolving private problems as well as public-interest issues.

Warm Regards,

Krish

98215 88114

Maharashtra Citizens, take this Weapon and start Fighting Corruption

2011-04-19T19:26:00.006+05:30

Dear fellow citizens,

Tagore wrote, “You can't cross a sea merely by standing and staring into the water”. In the battle against corruption, don’t you want to go beyond facebooking, twittering and sloganeering? Don’t you really want to have a movement? Guys, most of us have only talked the talk. If you want to walk the talk, then take this weapon and get moving. Like the Jan Lokpal Bill, this too is Anna Hazare’s brainchild; rest assured it’s not a rival product.

Since February 2011, Maharashtra has instituted a high-level Corruption Eradication Committees at Taluka, District and Divisional level. These committees are waiting to receive complaints and oral submissions from you. Bhavesh Patel, Anna Hazare’s man on one of these committees, informs us that In Mumbai, they now hold monthly meetings around noon on the first Monday of every month.

These are high-level committees chaired by the quasi-judicial officers at three levels -- Divisional Commissioners, District Collectors (a.k.a. District Magistrates with powers under Criminal Procedure Code) and Tahsildars (a.k.a. Tahsil Magistrates), and they have Anti-Corruption Bureau Superintendent of Police and Deputy Superintendent of Police as their members. Besides, chiefs of various government departments are the members.

This complaint mechanism can be used to target corruption by the smallest State Govt. chaprasi (peon), karmachari (worker) and karkhoon (clerk) to the most powerful State Govt. officer and Babu (bureaucrat).

It cannot be directly used to target corruption by netas (political leaders and elected representatives), mantris (ministers), constitutional appointees (such as Information Commissioners, Human Rights Commissioners etc), and private entities (such as individuals, cooperative societies, companies). This is because if, after investigation, the charges are found to have substance, they can recommend departmental enquiry and disciplinary action. Netas, mantris, constitutional appointees and private entities cannot be subjected to departmental enquiry and disciplinary action.

With all its limitations, this mechanism is still very powerful, because in the course of a departmental enquiry, the role of elected representatives and ministers is likely to come out, and the evidence gathered thereby has a good chance of landing with the Anti-Corruption Bureau and/or resulting in prosecution against all concerned – ministers and private parties also. The public servant is thus the weakest link in the chain of corruption, and it must be broken through our concerted action.

Click here to download Ready-to-use Complaint Format

Where to send complaint, whom to send, where to go for meeting?

Venues /contact phone nos. of these monthly meetings, where they receive complaints:

1) Mumbai City & North Mumbai (Suburbs)

2) Thane, Navi Mumbai, Ulhasnagar, Ambernath, etc.

3) Pune

4) Rest of Maharashtra

You can send your complaint to The Divisional Headquarters, District Collectorate or Taluka indicated in the above addresses.

Who do you address your complaints to?

Keeping in mind the jurisdiction, you have options and alternatives. You can address it to:

1) Divisional Commissioner, in his capacity as Chairman of Divisional Corruption Eradication Committee of one of the six divisions of Maharashtra, viz. Nagpur, Amravati, Aurangabad, Konkan, Nashik and Pune Division. You can also address it to Deputy Commissioner (Revenue), in his capacity as Secretary. This committee sits at Divisional Headquarters.

2) District Collector, in his capacity as Chairman of District Corruption Eradication Committee of one of the 31 districts of Maharashtra. You can also address it to the Resident Deputy Collector, who is the Secretary. This committee sits at District Collectorate.

3) Deputy Collector in his capacity as Chairman of the Tehsil Corruption Eradication Committee. Or you can address it to the Tehsildar in his capacity as Secretary. This committee sits at Taluka/Tehsildar office.

4) You can also address it to the Chief of the Vigilance Squad in your district, and send it to the District Collectorate.

Who they are, what are their powers, duties & obligations:

· The officers who are ex-officio on these high-level committees, click here:

English Marathi

· The action that they are required to take on your complaint, click here:

English Marathi

· To read about Vigilance Squads & its Duties, click here:

English Marathi

What you need for filing Complaint:

1) Specific knowledge to expose a wrongdoing and/or a corrupt government employee/employees.

2) RTI documents as evidence of delaying tactics, non-acceptance of complaints, and inaction amounting to deliberate dereliction of duty, negligence etc.

3) Evidence of Disproportionate Assets, information from reliable sources etc.

4) Your complaint need not necessarily be against any individual. You can point out wrongdoings of a department as a whole if you have knowledge of how a certain scam works.

Note: It is not necessary for you to have conclusive proof of the wrongdoing. Remember, you are only a well-meaning citizen, not an investigating agency or private detective. Information that can establish prima facie guilt is sufficient for you to trigger the statewide mechanism ofVigilance Squads, which will independently investigate based on your complaint, and report to the respective Corruption Eradication Committee.

Examples of such information or evidence:

a) RTI documents that show undue favours and abuse of discretionary authority

b) Correspondence that indicates unwillingness to perform their official duties as per the law

c) Photographs or recordings of soliciting/accepting bribes

d) A video-recording of touts in and around offices such as RTO, Octroi collection checkposts etc.

e) Knowledge of disproportionate assets owned by government servants

Optional reading: Read about the recent GR that mandates the formation of Corruption Eradication Committees and enables the citizens to action against corruption. RTI activists will find it quite easy to take action as they would already have large amounts of evidence of wrongdoings at their disposal, and because they are used to doing paperwork.

Warm Regards,

Krish

98215 88114

sahasipadyatri.AT.gmail.com (replace .AT. with @)

PS: This document contains over a dozen web links and downloads. If you cannot see the download links in this email, please open the attached word file.

Maharashtra, Celebrate! This recent Anti-Corrupt GR gives RTI activists huge powers

2011-04-17T06:50:00.001+05:30

Friends,

My fellow activists often ask in despair, “After RTI, what? Even if you get documents to expose a corrupt official, what can you do with this information? Who will entertain your complaint?” This is a key question. A Right to Information application will at best reveal the documents that show that a corrupt officer or employee is unduly favouring someone, breaking rules, deliberately delaying matters etc. But what will you do with those papers? Who will take action on a complaint from an RTI activist?

True, one can try for departmental enquiry and disciplinary action, but everybody knows what an uphill task that is. We all have experienced the obstacles that the administration puts in our path – even if we have clear black-and-white evidence.

And so the one and only solution is the Jan-Lokpal Bill, right? And until this comes along, we just have to wait and watch, right?

Wrong!

There is now a mechanism available to people all over Maharashtra. If we use it, it will put the fear of God into hundreds of corrupt government servants, both big and small. Read about the detailed mechanism brought into existence by this Government Resolution (GR), which was passed on 4th February 2011.

· Download Marathi GR from here: http://tinyurl.com/Maha-Anti-Corrupt-GR

Or from here: http://tinyurl.com/Maha-Corrupt-Eradication-Act

· Download the English Translation: http://tinyurl.com/Maha-Anti-Corrupt-GR-English

[The yellow highlighted parts in this file are notes from me to you. Otherwise, this file contains a nearly exact translation.]

Whom should we thank for this excellent and progressive piece of rule-making. I don’t know for sure, but my guess is, Prithviraj Chavan and Anna Hazare. So, three cheers for Prithviraj Chavan and Anna Hazare: Hip-hip-hurray! Jai Maharashtra! Jai Hind!

Look at this GR’s marvelous features:

1) Can punish the smallest government servant to the most powerful IAS officer & top-cop. This GR makes no exceptions for anybody. Corruption, undue delays and dereliction of duty will be punished, no matter who commits it. It confers sweeping powers on the common man, who can submit written complaints as well as oral submissions before the Corruption Eradication Committees.

2) Creates multi-layered anti-corruption structure geographically & administratively spread throughout Maharashtra. This GR mandates the establishment of Committees and Vigilance Squads for Eradication of corruption at Divisional, District and Taluka levels. It sets up a multi-layered Corruption Control-cum-Grievance Redressal mechanism that is geographically dispersed in rural and urban Maharashtra, and spread over different levels of the State administration -- from the Taluka level up to Mantralaya.

3) Consolidation of many anti-corruption & anti-delay GRs. This GR consolidates ten anti-corruption and delay prevention government circulars (GRs) issued between 1996 and 2009. Those 10 old GRs are now cancelled, having been given effect in this one single GR.

4) Accessible & friendly for common man. It establishes a mechanism for accepting written complaints and hearing oral submissions at places that are reasonably close to accessible for the common man i.e. Taluka headquarters, District headquarters and Divisional headquarters. Also, it is supposed to hear not only allegations of corruption, but also those concerning undue delay, irregularities, favouritism etc.

5) Not top-heavy; Spreads the onus for action evenly throughout the administration. It spreads out authority on several ex-officio heads of department such as Deputy Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Superintendent of Police Anti-Corruption Bureau and Chief Engineer PWD. These people bring domain knowledge of the specific field concerning the complaint. They understand the ground realities, and, unlike judges sitting in High Courts, Vigilance Commissions or Lokayukta’s offices, they can go to the spot. It also introduces 5 to 10 civil society watchdog members in each committee. Thus, it is not top-heavy. (One badly-selected Information Commissioner can jam up the RTI system for five years because he has no pressure to perform. But one badly-selected member of Corruption Eradication Committee cannot do the same, because this GR puts pressure on him to perform, like a gun to his head! If he fails to act in 90 days, the complainant can escalate the matter to the next level, and disciplinary proceedings will be recommended against the delaying member of the Corruption Eradication Committee or Vigilance Squad!)

6) System for taking cognizance of Information received under RTI, or from whistleblowers.Specific mention of Right to Information is made in point no. 7. However, it also gives scope for administration insiders to blow the whistle on negligent or corrupt superiors and colleagues.

7) Culminates in Departmental Enquiry & Disciplinary Action. Wherever guilt is established – not only for corruption, but even for undue delay and other kinds of breach of Maharashtra Civil Service Rules -- the case lands in the lap of the Competent Authority for that particular officer. This is the government authority empowered to hold departmental enquiries and initiate disciplinary action. Thus, the punishment (unlike an RTI penalty) will have a lasting impact on the career of officers found guilty.

8) Ample internal checks & balances. The GR puts the onus of investigation and evidence-collection on Vigilance Squads, which consists of A group and B group officers at each district level. These officers are supposed to work under the supervision of the concerned Corruption Eradication Committee. If Vigilance Squad members don’t function properly, or if they become corrupt or drag their feet on some cases, etc., the GR defines 90-day deadlines for investigation and reporting. If deadlines are crossed, the complaint can automatically get escalated to the next higher level, making the corrupt squad members, and also corrupt committee members, eligible for departmental enquiry and disciplinary action.

9) Gives teeth to all existing Rules & Laws (State & Central), and thereby gives teeth to the common man. Maharashtra’s Prevention of Delay in Discharge of Official Duties Act [Read:http://tinyurl.com/Maha-Delay-Prevention-Act ] is specifically mentioned in the GR. So is theMaharashtra Civil Services Rules 1979 (Amended 2008) http://tinyurl.com/MahaCivilServicesRules . However, there are many other rules, laws and guidelines – too numerous to name here. This GR implicitly gives the citizen power to invoke any of these while making a complaint and oral submission!

10) Includes feedback mechanism for complainant. This GR contains provisions that make it necessary for the Committee or Squad to get back to the complainant with its findings and reports – whether guilty or not-guilty.

11) No time limits! People, bring out your old RTI documents showing corruption, undue delays, irregularities, frauds etc. This GR mandates that the Committees and Squads must entertain them, even if one or two years have passed. Because no time-limits are specified for your complaint.

It goes without saying that We, the People of Maharashtra, will have to exercise our ownership of this Corruption Eradication GR in the same way as we have done for the Right to Information Act. Our participation is like the blood running through the veins of all legislations; if we don’t exercise the many rights that this GR gives us, then this system will not come to life. On the other hand, I am fully hopeful if we wake up to this opportunity, and start filing complaints with the relevant Corruption Eradication Committee, we can enliven this system and make it respond to the valid concerns of every citizen.

Personally, I believe that this GR has the potential to add tremendous power to the RTI Act in Maharashtra, clean up the administration and serve as a role-model for the rest of India.

Warm Regards,

Krish

98215 88114

Important Footnotes:

I. In Marathi, this GR refers to the Corruption Eradication Committees at various levels as “Bhrashtachar Nirmoolan Samiti”. A simple google search shows that there are two or three older organizations with the same name or similar names. See these:

(a) http://www.anticorruptioncommittee.com/photo_gallery

(b) http://bhrashtachar.org/

However, the term “Bhrashtrachar Nirmoolan Samiti” that this GR refers are not the above mentioned. They will be entirely different committees where the responsibility will be shouldered by government officers, and citizens will play the role of watchdogs.

II. There at other GRs enabling the people of Maharashtra to have government officers punished for corruption, dereliction of duty and negligence. See these.

(a) http://tinyurl.com/Maha-90-days-deadline

(b) http://tinyurl.com/Punish-Corrupt-BMC-officials

Both these GRs (and others also) continue to be in force. They are more specific and targeted, and very good in their own way. Let us use them.

III. This translation was done at the initiative and expense of my colleague G R Vora. At 50 paise per word, he spent over Rs 1,400 for this one GR alone. Towards this and other GRs, he has spent Rs 2,750. See http://tinyurl.com/Vora-translation-Bill1 . In the last 12 months, Vora has spent at least Rs 30,000 out of pocket to support us … and he is supporting many other activists like us! So it will be nice if some kind soul out there helps this brave man shoulder this burden. We badly need to translate many more documents to empower citizens, as Maharashtra government’s GRs in Marathi will otherwise remain an area of ignorance for large numbers of citizens.

IV. I have tried my best to remove all errors in translation. Still, some may have escaped me. (My knowledge of Marathi is patchy, so forgive me.) If you are fluent in Marathi and English, please download this word file and correct the mistakes.http://tinyurl.com/GR-translation-for-correction Kindly colour-highlight the corrections and email the file to us, so that we can promptly update the internet copy of this file.

Krish

PIO Hits Back, Files RTI on Activist!

2011-04-15T17:42:00.002+05:30

RTI Activist Mr Tapil Kumar, Resident of Shahpur-Qutub, District Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, got the shock of his life when the Mr Surendra Pal Singh, Public Information Officer (PIO), Nagar Panchayat, Harduaganj, retaliated and filed an RTI on him by sending a postal order of Rs 10 along with six questions!

Mr Kumar had posed queries related to assets of the husband of Chairman of the Nagar Panchayat and this did not go down well with the PIO.

Seven Aids to Using Right to Information

2011-04-05T00:10:00.001+05:30

1. Bilingual versions of RTI Act 2005:

(by Dr.Chandrakant Pulkundwar)

a) English-Hindi: http://tinyurl.com/RTI-Act-Eng-Hindi

b) English-Marathi: http://tinyurl.com/RTI-Act-Eng-Marathi

2. Key Judgments of various High Courts on RTI (Case Law Digest) http://tinyurl.com/RTI-Case-Law-Digest

(By YASHADA’s RTI Cell led by Prahlad Kachare)

3. PIO’s Guide to RTI Act: http://tinyurl.com/RTI-PIOs-Guide

(By Shailesh Gandhi, Central Information Commissioner)

4. RTI Act with notes for interpretation of various sections: http://tinyurl.com/RTI-Act-with-notes

(By Shailesh Gandhi, Central Information Commissioner)

5. RTI Act Simplified & Abridged: http://tinyurl.com/RTI-Act-Simplified

(RTI Act in English, simplified and reduced from 10,800 words to 4,300 words)

6. Tips & Tricks on filing good RTI applications: http://tinyurl.com/RTI-Tips-n-Tricks

(Four articles with points to guide RTI activists and applicants)

7. RTI Application Formats: http://tinyurl.com/RTI-Application-Formats

(By Shailesh Gandhi, Central Information Commissioner)

Warm Regards,

Krish

98215 88114

How citizens can interface with Municipal Corporation: Tips from a seasoned activist

2011-03-29T21:53:00.000+05:30

Dear Friends,

My colleague G R Vora is a civic activist of long standing. He has been interacting with the Mumbai’s Municipal Corporation since the 1990s. He notes that although meetings with officials are an important method for a common man to get his civic grievances redressed and to demand proper governance, they are underused. If civic activists attend more meetings with various civic authorities, things will rapidly improve.

Here are some tips from Vora:

1. Attend the monthly Citizens Grievance Redressal (CGR) meeting at the ward office. In Mumbai, it is supposed to be held once every month at every ward office -- mostly on a Saturday 9 to 11 am. In such meetings, in addition to the Assistant Municipal Commissioner (also called Ward Officer), all the heads of Departments (such as Building & Factories, Storm Water Drains, Encroachment Removal, License, Water Supply, Solid Waste Dept, Health etc, ) or their second-in-command are in attendance. This is an effective forum to put forward your grievances and demand commitments from the concerned officers. What you are entitled to at these meetings:

a) Proper and patient hearing, as long as you do not get personal and rude, but stick to the facts of the grievance, supporting your contentions with documentary proofs such as letters written to proper authorities etc, agenda & minutes of meetings held, photographs of the problem.

b) Discussion of written submissions of your grievances with the responsible officials, followed by proper directions for redressal of grievances. So it’s always a good idea to carry a letter for written submission, instead of going empty-handed.

c) Acknowledged & stamped copy of written submissions. Always take at least three copies, plus original. One is copy for submission, one is your office copy on which you will receive stamped acknowdgement, and a couple of copies extra which will come in handy during the meeting.

d) The Complaints Officer (CO) is supposed to note down the minutes of the meeting for future reference.

e) At the next meeting, the officers are supposed to put forward an Action Taken Report(ATR) on the complaints and commitments given at the last CGR meeting. If they do not, you can insist on this, to avoid slippages from action commitments made at previous meetings.

2. Do the documentation, walk the extra mile: After getting valuable commitments at the meeting, many citizens don’t put it down on paper. This is a mistake, because it allows officials to evade those commitments. Please don’t depend on the CO’s minutes. Within one or two days after the meeting, take care to send a letter addressed to the Ward officer listing all the grievances which were put forward at this CGR meeting, and also the commitments that were made. This is the way to put on record the grievances expressed at the CGR meeting, and to prepare the ground for further follow-up.

3. Follow up with RTI Application: If you feel that the officers will not act on your complaint, then you can pressure them by filing an RTI application on the complaints already given (see http://tinyurl.com/RTI-on-Complaint ). The RTI will seek details of the action taken, reasons recorded for not acting on the complaint, officers responsible for taking action etc. etc.

4. If Ward officials negligently or deliberately fail to redress grievances, then you can approach the higher up, namely Deputy Municipal Commissioner (DMC) of that zone. The DMC is supposed to meet citizens once a month (e.g. for MCGM F/North ward, the DMC Zone 2 meets the citizens on third Monday of the month 3 - 5 pm). You must take along a letter seeking redressal of grievances, the copies of complaints already lodged at Ward Office etc, RTI applications filed, information received etc. At this meeting, you must urge him to take action not only on your grievances, but also against the officers who have not taken action on your grievances.

5. If action is not satisfactory, then escalate the complaint to the next level. Seek an appointment with the Additional Municipal Commissioner under whom the ward falls i.e. Addl. Mun. Commissioner (City) or Addl. Mun. Commissioner (Western Suburbs) or Addl. Mun. Commissioner (Eastern Suburbs). Get their phone numbers from the website. Go to the meeting with your complete file of papers to show that you have done a lot of groundwork before approaching him; this will earn you respect in his eyes, and put pressure on him to act promptly. It will also tell him that you are not easy to deter, and that if he does not satisfy you, you are willing and able to go to his higher-ups too!

6. Finally, there is the Municipal Commissioner’s Lokshahi Din, where he is available on for hearing members of the public seeking redressal of grievances. (In the case of MCGM, it’s the First Monday of the month between 9 - 11 am)

7. Regular letterbaazi is a must. At or after every meeting, dispatch a letter to the official stating the grievances expressed and commitments made by officers. These are the minutes of your interaction with the concerned officials. This will become necessary in case you need to go to court with a Writ Petition or Public Interest Litigation, or if you wish to press charges against officials for deliberate inaction. Neatly file the stamped acknowledgment copy.

8. G R Vora’s Words of Caution:

(a) Citizens should avoid calling these meetings at the Ward Office as ALM (Advanced Locality Management) meetings. If they do, they may be sidetracked by officials who start asking questions like, “ALM of which Societies? Which neighbourhood? Are you doing garbage segregation, vermi-composting, adoption of footpaths for beautification etc? Why not?” Officials may use such tactics to put the citizen on the backfoot, and make him/her feel inferior.

(b) CGR meetings are regularly happening wherever citizens are active, in wards such as H-West ward, F/North Ward, M East / West wards, and A ward. These should be happening in all the wards. Demand it, and try to gather at least 8-10 citizens who devote energy to attending these meetings.

(c) Ward officer may call the residents only on two days of the week (e.g. in F/North ward it is on Mondays and Fridays between 3 - 5 pm) to air their grievance. At this meeting only the Ward Officer is available, but not a single Head of Department (HoD) is present to answer questions and give commitment on grievance redressal. This is a Bad Practice. Bring pressure on Ward Officer to meet citizens when all HoDs are available.

(d) Municipal Commissioner, Addl. MC, DMC and Ward Officer sometimes allows citizens to enter their office only one-by-one, and not in a group. This puts the citizens at a disadvantage, as they are not able to support one another with relevant arguments, relevant information etc. The official gains a psychological advantage by virtue of his high office, and uses it to suppress and cow down the citizen. This is a bad practice, which must be opposed. We must keep in mind that CGR meetings are forums where citizens can apply collective pressure for good governance.

9. What to do if Officials persistently fail to resolve grievances? Three Weapons available in Maharashtra & Mumbai --

A) provisions of Maharashtra Delay Prevention Act: http://tinyurl.com/Using-Delay-Prevention-Act

B) For slow response to Representations, this circular http://tinyurl.com/90-day-limit

C) For inaction on unauthorized constructions, this circular: http://tinyurl.com/punitive-circular

Also read about Other Action Tools available to active citizens working for better governance and accountability: http://tinyurl.com/activist-action-toolkit

Warm Regards,

Krish

098215 88114

Govt servants joining activists in War Against Corruption: a live example

2011-03-28T10:47:00.000+05:30

Dear fellow activists,

Hindustan Construction Company evaded making Employees Provident Fund contributions of Rs 4.44 crore between April 2005 and March 2008. See paragraph marked in red on page 29 of this file: http://tinyurl.com/HCCs-evasion

These figures pertain to construction of Bandra Worli Sea Link (details on Page 8-12, and 28), it appears that the evasion is wider. “A huge evasion of membership has been unearthed at all the work areas/sites of the said establishment” i.e. in about 15 places around the country, including three places in Maharashtra, besides Mumbai. See blue-highlighted paragraph on page 12.

According to Section 6 of Employees Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952, “The contribution which shall be paid by the employer to the Fund shall eight and one-third per cent of the basic wages dearness allowances and retaining allowance (if any) for the time being payable to each of the employees (whether employed by him directly or by or through a contractor) and the employees' contribution shall be equal to the contribution payable by the employer in respect of him…” This document suggests that Hindustan Construction Company, headed by Ajit Gulabchand, deliberately did not keep its end of the bargain.

Now someone please ask, How did I get my hands on this internal government document, which pertains to a Vigilance enquiry against a Regional Provident Fund Commissioner? Did I file an RTI application for this?

The answer is, No, not RTI. A central government insider called me and gave it to me after he read my blog, titled “Maharashtra Govt lets Lavasa & Amby Valley piss into Pune’s water-supply”http://tinyurl.com/Pune-drinks-Lavasa-piss He felt that the documents concerning Hindustan Construction Co’s evasion in paying its Provident Fund dues needed to be in the public domain. He wanted to blow the whistle, and he wanted my help in doing so. And so, as promised, here I am, putting these documents in the public domain.

From all this, I am getting the feeling that large numbers of government servants are eager to ally with RTI activists and civil society members in exposing corruption and wrongdoings. We just need to reach out to these government insiders and whistleblowers, and encourage them to join hands with us. If we build a relationship of trust, I think hundreds of skeletons will start tumbling out of government cupboards. And when the government sees that its own employees have joined the war against corruption, things will change a lot more rapidly.

Mr Prime Minister Sir, are you listening? Are you reading the writing on the wall?

Warm Regards,

Krish

98215 88114

SC’s Verdict on CVC gives RTI activists 10 Reasons to Cheer!

2011-03-05T14:36:00.001+05:30

Friends,

We should cheer now! Thursday’s Supreme Court verdict annulling P J Thomas’s appointment as CVC gives nepotism a kick in the pants! This order contains instructions for ensuring transparent selections of constitutional authorities such as State & Central Information Commissioners, members of Human Rights Commission, Minorities Commission, etc. We can use these ‘legal gems’ in our letter-baazi, complaints, RTI applications & writ petitions.

In this copy of the SC judgment, these 10 directives are shown in the right margin in Red Roman Numerals: http://tinyurl.com/SC-sacks-CVC1

These are also listed below.

10 Directives for Transparent Selection:

I. High Courts must entertain when appointments are challenged. “We reiterate that Government is not accountable to the courts for the choice made but Government is accountable to the courts in respect of the lawfulness/legality of its decisions when impugned under the judicial review jurisdiction.”(Pg 52, Point 45)

II. Recommendation made without due procedure are null & void. “If a duty is cast under the proviso to Section 4(1) on the High Powered Committee (HPC) to recommend to the President the name of the selected candidate, the integrity of that decision making process is got to ensure that the powers are exercised for the purposes and in the manner envisaged by the said Act, otherwise such recommendation will have no existence in the eye of law.” (Page 2, point 2).

III. CVC is defined as an “Integrity Institution”. (The same definition may stretch to Information Commissions.) “In our opinion, CVC is an integrity institution. This is clear from the scope and ambit (including the functions of the Central Vigilance Commissioner) of the 2003 Act. It is an Institution which is statutorily created under the Act. It is to supervise vigilance administration. The 2003 Act provides for a mechanism by which the CVC retains control over CBI. That is the reason why it is given autonomy and insulation from external influences under the 2003 Act.” (Page 22, Point 26.)

IV. The key issue is Institutional Integrity, not Personal Integrity. “The constitution of CVC as a statutory body under Section 3 shows that CVC is an Institution. The key word is Institution. We are emphasizing the key word for the simple reason that in the present case the recommending authority (High Powered Committee) has gone by personal integrity of the officers empanelled and not by institutional integrity.” (Point 28, page 30)

V. Recommendation of Selection Committee must show a proper thought-process. “The word ‘recommendation’ in the proviso stands for an informed decision to be taken by the HPC on the basis of a consideration of relevant material keeping in mind the purpose, object and policy of the 2003 Act. As stated, the object and purpose of the 2003 Act is to have an integrity Institution like CVC which is in charge of vigilance administration and which constitutes an anti-corruption mechanism. In its functions, the CVC is similar to Election Commission, Comptroller and Auditor General, Parliamentary Committees etc. Thus, while making the recommendations, the service conditions of the candidate being a public servant or civil servant in the past is not the sole criteria.” (Point 28, page 31-32).

VI. The logic of decision-making process must be self-evident. “Appointment to the post of the Central Vigilance Commissioner must satisfy not only the eligibility criteria of the candidate but also the decision making process of the recommendation. The decision to recommend has got to be an informed decision keeping in mind the fact that CVC as an institution has to perform an important function of vigilance administration. (Point 33, page 36)

VII. The touchstone is Public Interest. “When institutional integrity is in question, the touchstone should be ‘public interest’ which has got to be taken into consideration by the HPC and in such cases the HPC may not insist upon proof ” (i.e. conclusive proof of the candidate being corrupt or ineligible.) “The point to be noted is that in the present case the entire emphasis has been placed by the CVC, the DoPT and the HPC only on the bio-data of the empanelled candidates. None of these authorities have looked at the matter from the larger perspective of institutional integrity including institutional competence and functioning of CVC. It is the independence and impartiality of the institution like CVC which has to be maintained and preserved in larger interest of the rule of law. While making recommendations, the HPC performs a statutory duty. Its duty is to recommend. While making recommendations, the criteria of the candidate being a public servant or a civil servant in the past is not the sole consideration. The HPC has to look at the record and take into consideration whether the candidate would or would not be able to function as a Central Vigilance Commissioner.” (Point 33, page 37)

VIII. Don’t consider only civil servants. “No reason has been given as to why in the present case the zone of consideration stood restricted only to the civil service.” (Point 55, page 68).

IX. Step-by-step instructions for selection procedure, incl. how list of candidates will be prepared (Point 55, pg 68 onwards):

(a) Record reasons, especially if there’s dissent. “As in the present case, if one Member of the Committee dissents that Member should give reasons for the dissent and if the majority disagrees with the dissent, the majority shall give reasons for overruling the dissent. This will bring about fairness-in-action. Since we have held that legality of the choice or selection is open to judicial review we are of the view that if the above methodology is followed transparency would emerge which would also maintain the integrity of the decisionmaking process.”

(b) Don’t restrict selection to civil servants. “In future, the zone of consideration should be in terms of Section 3(3) of the 2003 Act. It shall not be restricted to civil servants.”

(c) Impeccable integrity. “All the civil servants and other persons empanelled shall be outstanding civil servants or persons of impeccable integrity.”

(d) Rational criteria, recording of reasons. “The empanelment shall be carried out on the basis of rational criteria, which is to be reflected by recording of reasons and/or noting akin to reasons by the empanelling authority.”

(e) Fixing accountability for empanelment. “The empanelment shall be carried out by a person not below the rank of Secretary to the Government of India in the concerned Ministry.”

(f) Don’t withhold information. “The empanelling authority, while forwarding the names of the empanelled officers/persons, shall enclose complete information, material and data of the concerned officer/person, whether favourable or adverse. Nothing relevant or material should be withheld from the Selection Committee. It will not only be useful but would also serve larger public interest and enhance public confidence if the contemporaneous service record and acts of outstanding performance of the officer under consideration, even with adverse remarks is specifically brought to the notice of the Selection Committee. ”

(g) Transparent screening procedure. “The Selection Committee may adopt a fair and transparent process of consideration of the empanelled officers.”

X. A precedent is set for quashing of Commissioner’s appointment by court. No need for roundabout methods to remove CIC/SIC! “The impugned appointment of Shri P.J. Thomas as Central Vigilance Commissioner is quashed.” (Point 56, page 71)

Benefits from this Judgment:

A. HALF THE BATTLE IS WON FOR ARVIND KEJRIWAL’S SLP, WHICH WAS RECENTLY ADMITTED BY SUPREME COURT. The Special Leave Petition challenges non-transparent selection of Information Commissioners. Gist of Kejriwal’s petition: http://tinyurl.com/Kejriwals-SLP1

B. Details of many unfair appointments: http://tinyurl.com/BadSelection

C. In 2010, Andhra Pradesh High Court and Tamil Nadu High Court admitted writ petitions filed by Madhav Vishnubhatta challenging the arbitrary selection of Chief State Information Commissioners. In Tamil Nadu, the Chief SIC was appointed by the CM’s selection committee, disregarding dissent expressed by opposition leader Jayalalitha.

D. THE CLEAN-UP WILL OPEN UP HUNDREDS OF POSTS AT CENTRAL AND STATE LEVELS. The government will have to consider ‘eminent citizens’ like you all for all such posts, as opposed to political chamchas: http://tinyurl.com/How-Babus-Steal-Power

Warm Regards,

Krish

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