Mid-Day: Mumbai: Friday, August 17, 2018.
After the
Kamala Mills fire tragedy, civic chief Ajoy Mehta had ordered all ward officers
to prepare lists of RTI activists regularly lodging complaints against illegal
constructions in their respective areas. Eight months on, ward officers still
haven't finished the task; ironically, the activists themselves have made a
list of corrupt civic officials and sent it to Mehta and CM Devendra Fadnavis.
As per the
statistics RTI activists received from the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), 21
civic staffers were arrested in 2016 for taking bribes, while the number of
those booked stood at 26 last year. This year, so far, the ACB has trapped
20-odd civic officials.
A group of
RTI activists had earlier moved the high court and filed a petition against
Mehta; the court had asked Mehta to submit his reply. RTI activists have
mentioned more than 100 civic officials in the list, a copy of which is with
mid-day, caught by the ACB during Mehta's tenure.
"Mehta
has hit a century... Instead of taking action on corrupt officials, he keeps
cracking down on citizens and activists, who are exposing illegalities.
Compared to previous commissioners' track record, graft cases have seen a steep
rise during Mehta's tenure," said RTI activist Mohammed Imran Shaikh, who
has also complained to Fadnavis about Mehta still being allowed to continue in
the post.
'Misuse of
power'
Experts said
there is no provision under the MMC Act, 1888, empowering the municipal
commissioner to direct his officials to prepare such "frivolous"
lists of citizens, who are exercising their bona fide rights conferred under
the RTI Act 2005.
"[The
order Mehta gave] is a misuse of power and [his] official position. On the
contrary, it's under his leadership that graft cases have risen," said
advocate Vijay Shukla.
Around 70,000
notices have been issued online to various illegal constructions; while some
were taken to court and disposed of, there has been no action yet from Mehta.
In fact, he, ironically, again granted permissions to restart the terrace pubs
at Kamala Mills.
Promoting
corruption?
Activists
have also alleged that Mehta issued a circular to stop citizens from
complaining against illegal construction. "This is a violation of Article
51A of the Constitution of India," said activist Sanjay Singh, president of
Lok Vasundhara Samiti.
Shaikh said,
"Hundreds of civic officials have been caught red-handed taking bribe to
protect themselves from the consequences of Kamala Mills incident. Instead of
cracking the whip on them, innocent citizens and activists are being harassed.
This proves that Mehta wants to promote corruption and suppress
activists." Despite attempts, Mehta remained unavailable for comment.
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