Moily flays RTI activists’ killings, corrupt babus

Indian Express ; Express news service : Tue Sep 14 2010 ;

New Delhi : In an apparent reference to former Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) Pratyush Sinha’s recent comment regarding his “thankless” job, Union Law and Justice Minister M Veerappa Moily on Monday said senior officers weren’t expected to make such statements. Sinha had observed at an interview last week that the worst part of his “thankless” job was observing how corruption had increased as people became more materialistic.

“I don’t want to name anyone, he is a senior official, anyone who says such things is wrong,” Moily said at a function to mark the 5th annual convention of Central Information Commission here. Sinha had also said, “There would be around 30 percent who would be utterly corrupt. But the rest are people who are on the borderline.”

To a question about the controversy over the appointment of P J Thomas as the new CVC, Moily there was nothing wrong in the appointment. Earlier in his address, the Minister said the Right To Information (RTI) Act should not become a casualty of corrupt bureaucrats and others. He also expressed concern over the recent instances of attacks and threats to RTI activists. “The attacks and killings have to be taken seriously and dealt with an iron hand. The RTI should not become the casualty of corrupt bureaucrats and others,” he added.

He also stated that the law to provide protection to civil servants and other whistleblowers raising issues of corruption had been finalised and would be introduced in the Winter Session of Parliament. Moily also expressed dissatisfaction over the performance of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, saying scams could be “halted in mid-stride” if prompt attention was drawn to them while they are being planned and executed.

“Post-mortems are good but they can be conducted only when a patient is dead. Scandals and scams are known even when they are being planned and executed. If audit draws attention to them forthwith in a well-published manner, such scandals can be halted mid-stride,” he said.