India
Today: New Delhi: Wednesday, October 17, 2012.
Kerala
Opposition leader V.S. Achuthanandan and State Information Commissioner (SIC)
K. Natarajan have got into an ugly soup. This follows the telephonic request
Natarajan, a former IPS officer, made to a police official on September 19 not
to array Achuthanandan as an accused in the First Information Report related to
an ongoing vigilance case.
The case
being probed by the state police's Department of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption
(DVAC) is related to the free allotment of 3 acres of government land in 2011
to an ex-serviceman who is related to Achuthanandan while he was Chief
Minister.
Following
charges that the allotment was unauthorised, the Congress-led United Democratic
Front (UDF) government ordered a vigilance inquiry against Achuthanandan,
former Revenue Minister K.P. Rajendran and Achuthanandan's former Principal
Secretary Sheela Thomas among others.
On October 8,
a local television channel telecast the recording of Natarajan's mobile phone
with V.G. Kunjan, a Deputy Superintendent of Police who is investigating the
case.
Natarajan, a
former DIG, was heard asking Kunjan not to array Achuthanandan as an accused as
it would be unfair to a man of high principles.
Kunjan recorded the conservation and submitted the audio clip to his
superiors saying he was continuously being called by the SIC with the request.
The state
police have now initiated an inquiry into this incident too. The Kerala RTI
Federation has requested the Governor to initiate proceedings to remove
Natarajan as SIC.
"I have
not told anyone to make any request on my behalf. If the SIC has made such a call without my
knowledge, he should face the consequences," said Achuthanandan. He also
indicated that he suspected a conspiracy by his detractors both within the
party and outside behind the incident. "I hope everything will come out in
due course."
Natarajan was
appointed as SIC in April 2011 by the Left Democratic Front government a month
before it went out of power. As the Right To Information Act 2005 says he was
selected by a committee comprising the Chief Minister, the Opposition leader
and a cabinet minister.
Ruling UDF
leaders have charged that Natarajan was an activist of SFI, the CPI(M)'s
student wing during his college days, and has been very close to Achuthanandan
.
According to
K.M. Shajahan, former private secretary to Achuthanandan who turned his critic
later, the former police official was a
regular visitor at Achuthanandan's official residence when he was Chief
Minister. Asked if Natarajan was his personal choice to SIC's post,
Achuthanandan said: "He was
appointed not just by me but a three-member committee which included Oommen
Chandy as Opposition leader. Why didn't Chandy raise objections if he was my
personal choice?"
The Kerala
Right to Information Federation (KRF) had objected to Natarajan's posting when
the LDF government was planning to pick him, on the grounds that the former
police officer had faced vigilance cases while he was in service. "The
government ignored our petition then. We have been vindicated now" says
D.B.Binu, general secretary, KRF.
Both Chief
Minister Oommen Chandy and Home Minister Thiruvanchur Radhakrishnan have
refrained from making any comment.
"Let us do an investigation into the incident. We will comment only
after that," said Chandy. He also said the question of initiating any
proceedings against Natarajan would also be decided after the investigation.
The incident,
besides denting Achuthanandan's Mr Clean image, has buttressed RTI activists'
charge that political parties have been appointing their loyalists to the SIC's
office violating the spirit of RTI
Act. Both the LDF and UDF stand accused
of appointing persons with political connections in violation of the act.
Interestingly,
the two warring political fronts have actually colluded to accommodate each
other's controversial nominees with out any objection.
"This is
a classic case of how the RTI provisions have been grossly violated," said
Binu, who filed complaints to the high court and also Governor H.R. Bhardwaj
against the appointments made by both the previous government led by LDF as
well as the present UDF ministry.
While the LDF
government in August 2010 appointed Soni B. Thengamam, a prominent CPI leader,
as SIC, the present UDF government had no compunction to choose two political
activists- C.S. Sasikumar (alias Vithura Sasi)
and Kurias Kumbalakkuzhi, prominent activists of Congress and Kerala
Congress (M) respectively, to the posts.
In order to
skirt the RTI Act which bars persons with political connections being made SIC,
they were made to resign from their parties. Following this, the high court and
also the governor approved their postings in June last year rejecting KRF's
objections. Interestingly, Opposition
leader Achuthanandan did not object to the appointments made by the UDF
government as was done by Chandy approving the LDF nominee while he was the Opposition
leader.
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