Nearly 15 months have passed since the bench of Information Commissioner Annapurna Dixit directed All India Radio (AIR) authorities to hold an impartial inquiry into a case pertaining to the alleged misuse of the RTI Act, 2005. But so far, nothing has happened. Whistleblower Ravindra Parmar, an AIR transmission executive, has now written to the Information Commissioner and sought action against AIR authorities under RTI rules for “intentional delay and non-compliance with the Central Information Commission’s (CIC) decision.
According to the details of the case, on November 5, 2008, Ahmedabad station director Bhagirath Pandya issued a showcause notice to Parmar on various charges, including misuse of the RTI Act. It was alleged that Parmar had misused provisions of the RTI Act to seek information and use them to harass and create problems in the administration. Parmar sought an inquiry into the allegations by filing an appeal in the CIC office.
On February12, 2009, the Bench of Information Commissioner Annapurna Dixit directed the Chief Principal Information Officer (CPIO) of AIR to hold an impartial inquiry into the matter. It ordered for a committee to be set up of at least two officials and submit the report to the bench within a month from the date of the receipt of the order.
But there has been no progress in the matter so far.
On his part, Deputy Director (administration) S P Bhattacharya said the “directions were received by CIC, but not much progress has been made because we actually don’t know if the probe is to be conducted by AIR or by CBI, which is already probing a complaint pertaining to corruption in the Ahmedabad AIR station”.
Parmar had blown the whistle regarding corruption at the Ahmedabad station with regard to preparation of private programmes/series by firms run as benami house by AIR officials. Parmar had named the husband-wife couple Mihir (programme executive) and Ashlesha Mehta (a transmission executive), and station director (commercial broadcasting) Sadhna Bhatt as accused.
On the basis of his complaint, the Mehta couple was suspended on December 26, 2007. It was on Parmar’s complaint that the CBI probed the charges.
In January 2009, CBI registered a case of corruption against the Mehta couple and Sadhna Bhatt and searched their homes and offices. They found that a 102-episode series of the Gujarat Tribal Welfare Department broadcast by AIR was prepared by Manisha Creative Firm, a benami production house owned by the Mehtas, and who had reportedly charged Rs 10 lakh, a direct loss to AIR.
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