The Citizen: RAJSAMAND, RAJASTHAN: Wednesday, June 14,
2017.
The Mazdoor
Kisan Shati Sangathan (MKSS) is shocked and dismayed to receive the judgment of
the Munsif Magistrate Court, Kishengarh, Ajmer convicting senior activists
Nikhil Dey, Naurti, Ram Karan, Babulal and Chotu Lal Malakar of trespass and
simple hurt under sections 323 and 451 of the IPC.
The judgment
comes on June 13 2017 for an incident which took place on May 6, 1998.
The decision
of the court pertains to an incident which occurred when the RTI activists made
a demand for information from the local Sarpanch in response to large number of
complaints of corruption in development works in Harmara Panchayat.
The
corruption allegations were against Sarpanch - Pyarelal - a liquour contractor
of the village. These included payments for toilets, Indira Awaas houses, and
labour payments for development works, that had not been made to the
beneficiaries.
This case is
yet another reminder of the backlash and attack that RTI activists consistently
face when challenging entrenched centers of power.
On May 6,
1998, the activists went to ask for information from the Sarpanch of Harmara,
carrying with them a letter from the Block Development Officer. Since his
office was usually closed during working hours, the activists went to his house
to deliver the letter from the BDO. It is then that the Sarpanch came out of
his house and physically assaulted the activists present.
Despite this
violence, the MKSS activists decided not to file an FIR, thinking that Right to
Information cannot depend on police cases, and that it had to depend on
dialogue with the Sarpanch and the exercise of a legal right under the
Panchayati Raj Act.
However, on
the same day, we (Aruna Roy) wrote to the Collector noting the incident and
asking that the Collector to ensure that information would be given by the
Sarpanch.
On the May 8,
the Sarpanch filed an FIR accusing the activists of assaulting him. On the same
day Naurti, disturbed by his slurs and violence towards her, had also filed a
case against him under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act.
The case
filed by the Sarpanch was closed on the 30th of June 1998 and for several
years, nothing happened. On July 5, 2001, the very same case was revived once
again. Since then the case has carried on with the Sarpanch producing false
witness, after false witness.
On May 6,
1998 when the activists were assaulted for asking the Sarpanch for information,
there was no one there apart from them and the Sarpanch and his immediate
family members. The FIR lodged by his brother Om Prakash, claims he was not
present.
Today, 19
years after the FIR was filed, Nikhil, Naurti, Ram Karan. Babulal and Chotu Lal
have been convicted in an utterly false case filed by the a corrupt powerful
Sarpanch who misused his influence and power and who had himself physically
assaulted them for demanding information in a case where the activists were
fighting for the rights of the poor, through means that were completely within
the ambit of the law.
The process
of this case that has continued for almost two decades, and the final decision,
is a body blow to the effort of citizens to fight corruption and stand up for
the rights of the citizen. It is a clear case of miscarriage of justice
We are
deeply disappointed by the verdict.
The sentence
has been suspended pending an appeal to be filed by the four activists in the
ADJ Court of Kishengarh.
The MKSS will
leave no stone unturned to bring out the whole truth of this case, and along
with the transparency and accountability movement in the country, will not
allow vested interests to misuse the law to suppress the voice of people
demanding transparency, and demands for justice by the poor.