Saturday, February 11, 2017

Cidco under fire for RTI ‘cover-up’ of graft accused

Times of India‎‎: Navi Mumbai: Saturday, February 11, 2017.
The State Information Commission (SIC), Konkan region, recently passed an order reprimanding Cidco for suppressing vital information sought by a dismissed Cidco engineer, under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
Former Cidco executive engineer Nandkumar Salla alleged that his income tax papers were tampered with by eight Cidco officers to frame him in a disproportionate assets case. In June 2013, ACB sleuths booked Salla for amassing wealth disproportionate to his actual income and arrested him. After Salla was released on bail, he sought details of all records pertaining to his service with Cidco under RTI. But Cidco rejected his plea citing that it was personal information and cannot be disclosed.
Salla then approached the Vashi JMFC court following which the magistrate issued an order on July 31, 2015, to register an FIR that was registered on August 1, 2015, at CBD police station. The eight accused officers were booked for falsification of Salla's official records.
The SIC order (January 27, 2017) states that an inquiry should be initiated against the concerned Cidco officials for suppressing the information. The inquiry should be conducted by an officer of a higher rank and action should be taken against the officers, the order stated. Cidco's public information officer should provide all details sought by the applicant and a compliance report should be submitted to the SIC.
Salla said, "I had worked as an assistant executive engineer in Cidco from April 1984 till December 2012. As a whistle blower, I had filed many complaints of corruption by some officers. They implicated me in a false disproportionate assets case by submitting false details about my income and deliberately reduced the salary amount. "
Cidco general manager (admin) J L Rathod said, "The SIC order has been forwarded to the concerned personnel department for further action."