Former CIC commits suicide

Lucknow Newsline: Lucknow: Friday, June 15, 2012.

Former UP Chief Information Commissioner(CIC) and Allahabad High Court judge M A Khan committed suicide by jumping from his apartment early on Thursday.

Khan jumped from his fourth floor house at Awadh Apartment in Gomti Nagar police station area while his family members were asleep, the police said.

Khan, 69, was under treatment for depression for more than a year, said his family members.

His wife Shams Jahan Begum said Khan, along with her and servant Sandeep, had slept in the bedroom in the night but in the morning she was informed by their neighbours about Khan having jumped off the building. Begum said she had last seen Khan in his bed around 3 am when she had woken up.

She said Khan had consumed sleeping pills in keeping with the medication for his treatment. Begum said Khan’s depression had become intense recently and the family had to watch him constantly. Last night, however, she and Sandeep, who slept on the floor besides their bed, did not notice when Khan went out of the bedroom, she said. He was scheduled to go to Bangalore for treatment Thursday.

Begum also added that Khan used to become oblivious after consuming sleeping pills and could have fainted while standing on the balcony and fallen down.

Additional Superintendent of Police (Trans-Gomti) Ram Bahadur Yadav, too, said it was not clear whether Khan jumped off the building or fell down after fainting while standing on the balcony.

Begum said Khan had become more depressed after the death of their son Kishwar in October last year due to liver ailments. Khan is survived by his wife and three children — Anwar, Munawwar and Heena. Khan’s body was taken to their native place in Saharanpur in the evening for last rites.

Khan, a law graduate, was elevated as permanent judge of the Allahabad High Court in 1999 after seven years of working as a district judge. He retired from the high court in November, 2005. Later, he was appointed CIC by then Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav.

He likened Ambedkar memorial to Taj Mahal, earned Maya wrath

As UP’s Chief Information Commissioner (CIC), M A Khan made news twice.

First, when he referred to the Ambedkar memorial as another Taj Mahal, which annoyed the then BSP government, headed by Chief Minister Mayawati.

The second time when he was suspended by the then Governor TV Rajeshwar in July 2008, after receiving complaints of misconduct, and the process of his removal was initiated by making a reference to the Supreme Court for holding an inquiry into the charges.

Khan’s lawyer in the Supreme Court Wasim Qadri said the matter is still pending. Commission sources said his salary of the suspension period was still due.

Khan took over as CIC on March 22, 2006.

RTI activist Izhar Ansari recalled that as CIC, Khan was known for his witty remarks. “It was a typical Lucknowi style of commenting on the situation. Some of the remarks often led to laughter, but some people took them seriously’’, said Ansari.

Shailendra Singh, another RTI activist, said that during a hearing on his application regarding the money spent on the Ambedkar memorial, Khan had likened it to Taj Mahal, which irked the government.

Incidentally, Singh lives in the same building where Khan lived and was the first to see the body in the morning. “I was going for morning walk and saw his body. I informed the police,” he said.

The charges against Khan were that he made appointments in the commission without following the prescribed procedure, without conducting any examination and in violation of reservation rules, and that he made derogatory remarks against Mayawati, the then Cabinet Secretary, and the then Chief Secretary during the hearing of a matter, and that he conducted himself autocratically towards other State Information Commissioners.

Khan moved the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court which stayed his suspension on November 15, 2008. The very next day, Khan joined office and submitted his resignation. But the state government, instead of accepting his resignation, appealed in the Supreme Court against the court order. The Supreme Court stayed the order, declaring Khan will remain under suspension. Qadri said Khan was due to retire on November 30, 2008, at the age of 65 but, technically, he remained under suspension.