Law gives a wide berth to tainted netas

Times of India: Hyderabad: Monday, March 31, 2014.

Nearly 25 years ago, a young man walked into a police station in Nellore along with his supporters and vandalized government property. A case was registered against the man, who later went on to become a Member of Parliament. Since then, the case has been gathering dust and the man, Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy, has gone on to be a three-term MP who is gearing up again for an electoral battle as the YSR Congress candidate from the Nellore Lok Sabha constituency.

Despite the passage of 25 years, the law has not caught up with Rajamohan Reddy, facilitating his repeated electoral forays since 1989, when the incident allegedly happened. However, Rajamohan Reddy's case is not an isolated one. Several sitting MLAs and MPs, who have been involved in criminal cases, have been treated with kids' gloves.

In fact, several top leaders who are now star campaigners and electoral contenders of their parties are facing serious charges, which if proved, could land them in jail or death row. Take for instance, TV Rama Rao, Telugu Desam Party's Kovvur MLA, who was accused of raping and killing a nursing student. Five years since the incident, the case is pending in court.

Similarly, TDP's Gurajala MLA Y Sreenivasa Rao, Kadiri MLA K Venkat Prasad and Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) floor leader Abkaruddin Owaisi are facing murder charges. The case against Venkat Prasad was registered way back in 2006, but it is still pending trial. Several politicians have been booked for rioting, assault and more, but are walking free as the cases were either declared as pending trial or under investigation.

In all, 54 incumbent MLAs and eight MPs from the state are facing charges of various nature. All of them are in the fray for the 2014 elections. Some of the prominent faces with skeletons in their closet include Konidela Shiva Shankar Vara Prasad alias Chiranjeevi, a Rajya Sabha member and till recently the Union minister of state for tourism. According to the police, Chiranjeevi, the Congress star campaigner in Seemandhra, entered police records almost five years ago for conducting two road shows without permission in Nandyala and Baudi Atmakur.

Of the Lok Sabha members, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief K Chandrasekhar Rao has 17 cases to his credit, only to be followed by MIM president Asaduddin Owaisi with 10 cases. The information accessed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act shows that though the MIM has only a handful of MLAs (7), they are involved in 39 cases among them. The Congress party, which secured 156 seats in the 2009 hustings, has 40 cases pending against its MLAs. Similarly, TDP candidates are facing 83 cases and TRS 57 cases.

"Recently, the Election Commission moved a proposal to bar the candidates who are facing charges which attract more than three years punishment, from contesting the election. However, there was severe resistance from political parties. But that proposal has to be accepted by the government. The cases are just kept pending either for trial or for investigation," M Padmanabha Reddy, secretary, Forum For Good Governance told TOI.

TB hospital staff live under shadow of dreaded disease

Indian Express: Mumbai: Monday, March 31, 2014.

The 1,200-bed Sewri TB Hospital in Mumbai, one of the largest tuberculosis hospitals in Asia, has struggled to contain the spread of the disease amongst its doctors, nurses and Class 4 workers. The number of hospital staff currently diagnosed with various forms of TB now stands at a record 46, with the last TB screening at the hospital conducted in December 2013.

From 2005 till January this year, 38 hospital employees have succumbed to the disease.

As per data obtained under the Right to Information (RTI) in 2013, the hospital has a total strength of 1,015 employees 44 medical staffers, 46 paramedical staffers, 265 nurses, eight administrative employees and 652 Class 4 workers. Of these, 40 Class 4 employees, five nurses and a doctor are undergoing treatment for TB.

Another cause for concern is that 23 of the infected employees have contracted multi-drug resistant (MDR) TB, a jump from 12 MDR cases recorded in July 2013. One doctor has advanced to extensively drug resistant (XDR) TB.

Dr Lalitkumar Anande, the hospital’s deputy medical officer, said, “There is a sudden spike in MDR cases since 2012. Since the bacillus has power to quickly mutate, it is spreading faster. Several Class 4 employees have low immunity, and it has hit them the worst.”

Pradeep Narkar, secretary Municipal Mazdoor Union Mumbai, said, “The unofficial figures of employees contracting TB are higher than what the hospital suggests. Several employees opt for treatment from private centres. They are not accounted for.”

A ward boy at the hospital said, “I took on my father’s position after his death. Since I have nowhere else to go, I have to work here even if there are chances of contracting TB.”

Mohammad Sabir, father of 20-year-old MDR TB patient Tabassum Seth, said, “The bed sheets and clothes of patients are changed once a week. The infection multiplies in the ward because of this and as nurses and ward boys come in direct contact, they are prone to infection.”

From May 1, 2012, after several staff members contracted TB, the hospital started providing every employee with ‘sakas ahaar’ a supplement containing 12-15 gm protein and 350-400 gm calories. However, Narkar alleged that the quantity of food provided is small. “The breakfast provided costs Rs 10 per person. How can you get wholesome diet in that amount? Employees are given either a boiled egg or a handful of chana. It cannot help build their immunity,” he said.

Additional municipal commissioner Sanjay Deshmukh from the BMC, under which the hospital functions, said, “We have started screening the hospital’s employees once in every three months. There is also going to be an orientation programme once every two months. In the orientation, a medical officer will brief them on ways to avoid infection.”

Despite TB screening facility being available at the hospital, the count of employees appearing for it has dwindled. A senior medical officer said, “In 2011, around 700 employees turned up for screening. But the figure came down to 328 in December last year. Employees don’t want to get screened because they do not wish to undergo DOTS. The treatment regime is exhaustive.”

DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment – Short Course) is a regime followed under Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme. However, employees have claimed that they are called to centres thrice a day for medication, and that public hospitals follow Category 1 and Category 2 treatment while private hospitals follow the far more effective Category 4 treatment.

Senior doctors from the hospital added that the count of MDR TB cases detected among the hospital staff has also increased after GeneXpert machine was installed in November last year. GeneXpert is useful in diagnosing MDR TB. Currently, the city has five such machines.

Chennai's unchanged face – people urinating and defecating in public

Times of India: Chennai: Monday, March 31, 2014.

When he took charge as mayor on October 25, 2011, Saidai S Duraisamy said he would make Chennai spick and spanking clean like Singapore.

Singapore? A desultory walk through any part of the city will reveal that the city is farther away from the Southeast Asian city-state than ever before.

The corporation has allowed garbage clearance and sanitation to go from bad to worse, while claiming to spend crores of rupees for the purpose, and has failed to take action against people who litter the streets or urinate and defecate in public.

Statistics from the civic body show that officials have either not fined anyone or penalised a handful of offenders across the city's 15 zones.

Only five of the 15 zones Alandur, Manali, Madhavaram, Perungudi and Sholinganallur responded to an RTI petition seeking data on steps taken to keep the city clean. Officials from Alandur and Manali admitted that they have not booked anyone in the last two years.

Perungudi zone collected a paltry Rs 5,000 in fine for littering over the past two years and Sholinganallur, Rs 8,000.

In contrast, several other metros have in recent times stringently enforced rules against people caught littering. Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, for instance, has started taking steps such as offering offenders the choice of paying a fine or doing community service, like sweeping streets or whitewashing graffiti. It collects an average of Rs 1 crore each year for spitting in public.

Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike is installing surveillance cameras across Bangalore to catch civic offenders in the act. It has also aggressively promoted source segregation of garbage. Youth action groups like Wake Up Clean Up, Make a Difference, TGLM and The Ugly Indian also help keep Bangalore clean.

In Chennai, corporation officials say, inspectors who should be enforcing the rules have been deployed to monitor Amma canteens. They also say they're busy with efforts to prevent mosquitoes and rodents from breeding, a task at which they have proved unsuccessful.

In The Times Of India-IMRB Quality Of Life Survey, it came as little surprise when respondents said Chennai lacks civic sense. They gave the city a rating of 2 on a scale of 1 to 5 for sanitation and ranked it seventh on a list of the eight cleanest metros in the country.

An ex-bureaucrat says the civic body has failed to enforce rules. "How well rules are enforced depends on how earnest officials are. Unfortunately, they are concerned about other things," he said. "Corporation officials and residents lack civic sense," said environmentalist Dharmesh Shah.

"The officials should first caution people against throwing garbage on the road and then fine them if they persist."

Corporation deputy commissioner (health) T Anand was unavailable for comment.

Has Right to Information come to your rescue?

Business Standard: Mumbai: Monday, March 31, 2014.

The Right to Information (RTI) Act was implemented in India nine years ago. The Bill was introduced in 2004's winter session of Parliament and passed in June 2005.

RTI remains a potent legal weapon to fight opacity in public offices and politicians continue to fear it. In the last winter session, a Parliamentary standing committee, while supporting passage of an amendment in the Act, concluded political parties should be kept out of the ambit. The RTI (Amendment) Bill, 2013, seeks to insert an explanation in Section 2, which states any association or body of individuals registered or recognised as a political party under the Representation of the People Act, 1951, will not be considered a public authority.

While many people have successfully used RTI to get information on their applications for ration cards or passports, there are mixed views on what extent RTI can benefit a layman.

Individuals face many issues with money matters. How can investors make the best use of RTI? Says Pune-based RTI activist Vivek Velankar: "On the investment side, there are many private sector companies. Unfortunately, they do not fall under the purview of RTI directly. Only public sector companies come under it." Private companies can be tracked under RTI through the regulators like Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), and Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irda).

Regulators can provide only the information a company is bound to furnish. At the same time, not all this information can be shared with you. The Act, under Sections 8 and 9, exempts certain categories of information from disclosures.

The fee for an RTI application to a central government authority is Rs 10, to be paid through demand draft or cheque or by post. The charge for providing the information is Rs 2 for each page created/copied, actual charge of a larger size paper copy, actual cost for samples and, for inspection of records, no fee for the first hour, Rs 5 for each 15 minutes, thereafter. To provide information under Section 7(5) of the Act, it will charge Rs 50 per diskette or floppy. For information provided in printed form at the price fixed for such publication or Rs 2 per page of photocopy for extracts from the publication. If a financial institution or a regulator can provide the required information, it will do so within 30 days of receiving the application.

Here's how you can use RTI with various financial institutions:

EPF: There have been many instances of employers not depositing the contributions towards Employee Provident Fund (EPF) deducted from an employee's salary. Employees can file an RTI application with the Employee Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) to check. An EPF account balance can be checked online.

Those who have transferred EPF balances know the pain of doing so. It is hard to track the balance transfers. RTI can help in checking the status. Even withdrawals from an EPF account can be tracked through RTI.

Real estate: RTI activist Bhaskar Prabhu of Mumbai's Mahiti Adhikar Manch says individuals looking to buy a house in a realty project can use RTI. Eighty per cent of Mumbai flats do not have an Occupation Certificate (OC), without which you cannot enter a flat. "Individuals can ask for the Information of Disapproval (IoD), under which one can know the requisites the builder needs for the project, which of the documents he has, which ones are yet to be furnished, if the permission from local authority is in place, if the project is in the builder's name or not, if the land title is clear or not, floor planning of the construction, fire safety planning and so on," he says.

Here, you will need to check with the local authority under which the project falls - municipal corporation, collector, gram panchayat. Accordingly, the RTI application should be addressed, says Prabhu.

Banks: Sometimes, bank staff can be non-cooperative. If you feel so, RTI can help you secure information about customer service norms, its service and the terms and conditions.

Second, banks might allow you to open an account or locker only if you make a deposit or buy a insurance policy. You can question banks on such unjust rules. Or, when you think a bank has gone against its own terms and conditions. Assume you are shopping for the cheapest home loan and a bank is not helping with the required information. You can find the interest rates, prepayment norms and other documentation issues through RTI.

However, this is only applicable to nationalised banks directly. For private sector banks, go through RBI.

Insurance: There are only five public sector insurance companies - Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), New India Assurance, United India Insurance, Oriental India Insurance and National Insurance. These can be approached directly; the private insurers will have to be approached through Irda.

"There isn't exact transparency on where traditional insurance plans invest. Policyholders can question LIC on that," says Velankar. You can also check on the charges of investing in traditional and unit-linked plans. Claim status can also be checked, if delayed.

Most banks are listed and declare financial details. So do even the unlisted insurance companies, through their bank promoters. You can ask for more financial details from these institutions, if required.

Income tax: According to experts, if all the information provided while filing the return was correct, and the refund hasn't come, one can check the status with an RTI application. Only an assessee can make an application for knowing the status of his/her tax income tax refund.

Experts suggest this route if you have not received your refund for at least a year. RTI is an interim step before you knock at the Ombudsman's door.

Housing society expels member for RTI ‘harassment’

Times of India: Mumbai: Monday, March 31, 2014.

In a first, the Salsette Catholic society in Bandra expelled a member for harassment through the RTI Act.

At a special general body meeting on Sunday, 54 of the 73 members present voted in favour of the motion to expel Leslie Almeida. Earlier, Almeida had not replied to a showcause notice issued by the society that said it would allow him to present his side. But at the meeting, members did not give Almeida an opportunity to speak as they constantly interrupted him. The committee, however, made a 90-minute presentation on why he should be expelled.

Father Michael Goveas, parish priest at St Andrew's Church, suggested an inquiry be set up to prove allegations against Almeida. He also objected to Almeida's photo with a stone in hand, saying it proved nothing as it did not show who Almeida was taking aim at. The society's secretary, Cornel Gonsalves, said the society had been dragged into a personal dispute. "The society has been harassed with hundreds of RTI applications," he said.

Former Apna Ghar staffers allege scam in recruitment

Times of India: Panaji: Sunday, March 30, 2014.

Two former caretakers at the state home for juveniles, Apna Ghar, employed on contract basis, Nilesh Pawar and Siddharth Vast, have alleged a fraud in the appointment of seven caretakers at the home on permanent basis in February 2014.

Vast, showing documents issued to him under RTI, said that some of the candidates have been appointed even when they had not submitted applications for the job. He said that all the candidates have submitted documents that were not attested, even though they have sworn in a statement that they have submitted attested copies of documents.

Vast said that the documents appear to have been attached at a later stage and alleged the involvement of the staff at the directorate of women and child development in the scam.

"Between November 2012 and November 2013, there was not a single case of violence by the children at Apna Ghar. This is the period when we were employed at the home. We would regularly try to talk to the children asking them to think about the consequences of their actions. But immediately after our contract ended, children in the home went berserk in December 2013 and damaged property at the home. It seems that it is in the interest of authorities to keep the children violent as a single contract has been employed to carry out works at the home for the last four years," he alleged.

Vast asked why the suggestions in the Levinson Martin report were not implemented by the state government to stop the escape of children from Apna Ghar.

Power supply cut off to dyeing units for flouting norms

Times of India: Madurai: Sunday, March 30, 2014.

Power supply was cut off to six dyeing units in Chinnalapatti in Dindigul district that were functioning without clearance from the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB). Meanwhile, the Chinnalapatti town panchayat has proposed to issue notices to many more illegal dyeing units in its limits.

The weaving town of the famous 'Sungudi' saris is reeling under the menace of unauthorised dyeing units which have multiplied several fold in the last few years. Their effluents, which are left untreated, have been rendering the ground water in the region non-usable resulting in the residents trying to prevent further damage at any cost.

D Durairaj, secretary of the consumer protection trust in Chinnalapatti filed an RTI after they were unable to know the status of the results of the water samples sent by the town panchayat to the TWAD board a few months ago. The RTI reply showed that water in 19 out of the 25 borewells collected at random, were not suitable for any use and that the remaining six were fast reaching that stage.

In order to alert the people on the consequences, college students led by Durairaj conducted a door-to-door campaign in many parts of Chinnalapatti asking the residents to abstain from using this water. The Sungudi saris, which are the most-suited for summer were initially dyed using natural dyes, but as the demand went up from 2,000 per day to 20,000, chemical dyes were brought in and many failed to comply with the rules and set up effluent treatment plants.

Under these circumstances, power supply to six units were suspended by the town panchayat following the recommendations by the TNPCB. A team of officials including the district environmental engineer K Elankumaran and from the town panchayat visited the spot.

During an earlier inspection the authorities had asked all the units to set up effluent treatment plants with a reverse osmosis system. But, only few had complied. Now, again action is being initiated against the erring units. Also, it has been detected that some people have set up their own plants without any approval of the local body and notices are to be issued to them soon, according to the town panchayat executive officer Kottaisamy.

The lies of Nilekani and Congress over biometric profiling –Part XXXI

Moneylife: Pune: Sunday, March 30, 2014.

Has Nilekani or Congress party ever informed that its biometric Aadhaar is going to be used for surveillance and security? Also is this the reason why very few MPs, MLAs and ministers from Congress have subjected themselves to biometric profiling of Aadhaar or NPR?

On 24 March 2014, the Supreme Court’s bench of Dr Justice BS Chauhan and Justice J Chelameswar heard Mohan Parasaran, Solicitor General of India et al as petitioners and upon hearing the counsel the Court made the following order, “Issue notice. In addition to normal mode of service, dasti service, is permitted. Operation of the impugned order shall remain stayed. In the meanwhile, the present petitioner (Unique Identification Authority of India -UIDAI) is restrained from transferring any biometric information of any person who has been allotted the Aadhaar number to any other agency without his consent in writing. More so, no person shall be deprived of any service for want of Aadhaar number in case she is otherwise eligible or entitled. All the authorities are directed to modify their forms, circulars, likes so as to not compulsorily require the Aadhaar number in order to meet the requirement of the interim order passed by this Court forthwith. Tag and list the matter with main matter i.e. WP(C) No.494/2012.”

The Court was hearing the special leave to Appeal (Criminal) No. 2524/2014 i.e. UIDAI Versus Central Bureau Of Investigation (CBI) that was earlier mentioned before the Chief Justice of India. This case has now been linked with the previous case Writ Petition (Civil) No. 494 of 2012 against the biometric identification based unique identity (UID)/ Aadhaar number.

An RTI application was filed in UIDAI with a request that ‘kindly ensure all pages are intact including annexures marked ‘Non-Disclosure Agreement”, “Technical Bid” and “Commercial Bid”.  In a reply dated 5 March 2014, the UIDAI replied, “The Annexures J, & K w.r.t. to Accenture Service Pvt Ltd mentioned Technical Bid and Commercial Bid. The annexures I, J & K w.r.t to L-1 Identity Solutions Operating Private Limited mentioned-non-disclosure Agreement, Technical Bid and Commercial Bids’.”

It further states, “As per Confidentiality Disclosure statement, the document contains confidential information of above firms and they have requested not to disclose the information outside UIDAI or be used for purposes other than the evaluation of their business capabilities. Secondly, this being third party information, the firms were requested for their comments wherein they had denied for sharing of their documents with any applicant.” The RTI application was filed by Qaneez-e-Fatemah Sukhrani.  

It may be recalled that Central Information Commission (CIC) had heard the matter of UIDAI's refusal to share copy of all contracts given to French and US biometric technology companies, namely, L1 Identity Solutions and Accenture. Mrs Sushma Singh, the Information Commissioner, gave a letter (No.F12013/096/2012-RTI -UIDAI) of UIDAI to the author who represented the appellant, Mathew Thomas from Bangalore.

UIDAI’s letter written to CIC submits that "contractual obligation in respect of BSP (Biometric Solution Provider) contracts has expired. Therefore, UIDAI has no objection in sharing the following contract details:- a) Copy of contract of UIDAI with M/s L1 Identity Solutions for Biometric Technology; and b) Copy of contract of UIDAI with M/s Accenture for Biometric Technology".

Following this, UIDAI gave the copies of the contract. After examining these documents with regard to the Accenture for Biometric Technology, it has come to notice that the first 237 pages appear to be in order but after that there is a one pager titled Annexure J Technical Bid Technical Bid as submitted by Accenture Services. The Technical Bid document is missing. After that there is a one pager titled Annexure K Commercial Bid Commercial Bid as submitted by Accenture Services Pvt Ltd. The Commercial Bid document is missing.

With regard to the L1 Identity Solutions for Biometric Technology, I notice that the first 236 pages appear to be in order but after that there is a one pager titled Annexure I Non-Disclosure Agreement as submitted by M/s L1 Identity Solutions Operating Company Private Limited. But this document is missing. After that there is a one pager titled Annexure J Technical Bid as submitted by M/s L1 Identity Solutions Operating Company Private Limited. The Technical Bid document is missing. After that there is a one pager titled Annexure K Commercial Bid as submitted by M/s L1 Identity Solutions Operating Company Private Limited. The Commercial Bid document is missing.

In a letter dated 10 September 2013 to UIDAI, the author wrote that reasoning that because "contractual obligation in respect of BSP (Biometric Solution Provider) contracts has expired. Therefore, UIDAI has no objection in sharing the following contract details :- a) Copy of contract of UIDAI with M/s L1 Identity Solutions for Biometric Technology; and b) Copy of contract of UIDAI with M/s Accenture for Biometric Technology"  is flawed in the light of the previous attached judgment of CIC.  

Under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the Public Information Officer (PIO) cannot deny information citing commercial confidence for agreements between a public authority and private party. While giving this judgment, CIC said “The claim of 'commercial confidence' in denying access to agreements between private parties and the masters of the public authorities—citizens—runs counter to the principles of the Right to Information.”  

“Any agreement entered into by the government is an agreement deemed to have been entered into on behalf of the and in the interest of ‘We the people’. Hence if any citizen wants to know the contents of such an agreement he is in the position of a principal asking his agent to disclose to him the terms of the agreement entered into by the agent on behalf of the principal. No agent can refuse to disclose any such information to his principal,” the CIC said in its order dated 27 July 2009.

The Commission was of the view that “The objectives of the RTI Act would be defeated if public authorities claim exemption based on a claim that ‘terms and condition were much more favourable to the government’, and therefore these must be kept away from the Public. In fact public feels that quite often the contrary is the case,” the CIC noted. The CIC observed, “Any so called imaginary moral or reciprocal obligation cannot be permitted to subvert a solemn constitutional and legal obligation”, and directed the PIO to provide copy of the agreement.

In the light of the CIC’s order, UIDAI’s refusal to share ‘Non-Disclosure Agreement”, “Technical Bid” and “Commercial Bid” in its reply dated March 5, 2014 is untenable.

In the contract agreement between the President of India, as purchaser and L1 Identity Solutions Operating Company, as a "Biometric Solution Provider" it has been officially admitted that the latter is a corporation of US based in Delaware as of 24 August 2010.  Notably, L-1 has since been bought over by French corporate conglomerate, Safran Group after the US Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) was convinced that there are no unresolved national security concerns with respect to the transaction. L-1 Identity Solutions announced agreement to be acquired by Frenh corporate entity Safran on 20 September 2010.

From the contract agreement between the President of India, as purchaser and Accenture Services Pvt Ltd as a "Biometric Solution Provider" dated 1 September 2010 it is evident that it has not been disclosed that Accenture Services Pvt Ltd is a subsidiary of Dublin, Ireland based Accenture plc, a US company. Till 1 January  2001 it was known as Andersen Consulting.

As a consequence of French corporate conglomerate Safran’s purchase of US company L-1 Identity Solutions, the de-duplication contracts of UIDAI’s Centralized Identities Data Repository (CIDR) and Home Ministry’s National Population Register (NPR),  which was given to foreign companies on 30 July 2010 to three companies now lies with two companies of French and US origin namely, Safran Group and Accenture.   

L-1 has been a US company that admittedly worked with intelligence agencies of the US. Now it has been purchased by French company, Safran Group in which French government has a stake and it also has forty year partnership with China. The latter is a US company that works admittedly with security agencies of the US.

UIDAI was asked whether there has been any fresh agreement between UIDAI and Safran Group and its subsidiaries. It also wants to know as to who are all the biometric solution providers after the expiry of the “contractual obligations” with L-1 Identity Solution and Accenture.  

The UIDAI had stated in its reply dated 23 December 2013 that the Appellant's data had not been shared with any entity outside the UIDAI.  Here appellant refers to CJ Karira, who had filed an RTI application seeking information about the same. In a reply of 13/16, January, 2014, UIDAI stated that “the data would be shared only on a formal request by the State concerned through the Nodal Departments for the delivery of welfare and public services and schemes of the Government.”  This is factually incorrect.

Nandan Nilekani, former unelected head of Aadhaar related projects and committees attempted to mislead Indian voters in general and particularly from Bangalore South constituency in a write-up dated 24 March 2014.  Nilekani, a Congress candidate, wrongly claimed, “The Supreme Court has upheld the UIDAI’s view. We have always stated that the data collected from residents would remain private, and not be shared with other agencies.”

The documents accessed through RTI reply dated 25 October 2013 reveal that this is an impudent misrepresentation of facts. In the contract agreement between the President of India for UIDAI, as purchaser and L-1 Identity Solutions Operating Company, and Accenture Services Pvt Ltd accessed through RTI it is stated, "The Data shall be retained by Accenture Services Pvt Ltd not more than a period of seven years as per Retention Policy of Government of India or any other policy that UIDAI may adopt in future."

This clearly implies that all the biometric data of Indians which has been collected so far is now available to US Government and French Government because of Patriot Act and French government’s stake in the company in question.

This Congress candidate states, “In its very first strategy document and in subsequent conversations, the UIDAI had clarified that while other government agencies have the option to make the number mandatory, the UIDAI itself will not make the Aadhaar number mandatory. Over the past year, some government agencies made the Aadhaar number mandatory for specific services and benefits.”

The fact is all these government agencies made biometric Aadhaar number mandatory based on the recommendations of Committees headed by Nilekani himself. UIDAI itself was/is maintaining that Aadhaar is 'voluntary' while its chairman, the Congressman made sure that it was made mandatory to avail a number of services or benefits from the government.

The Strategy Overview document of the UIDAI says that "enrolment will not be mandated" adding, "This will not, however, preclude governments or registrars from mandating enrolment" but the stark fact is Nilekani himself headed several committees whose recommendations made Aadhaar mandatory."

In his statement dated 24 March 2014, Nilekani, the Congressman, claimed, “The argument was that making Aadhaar mandatory enables agencies to weed out fakes and duplicates in their systems, thus reducing corruption.” This was the argument of the government in which he was a cabinet minister ranked official and he was himself recommending it. Nilekani is indulging in verbal gymnastics and is trying to hide behind a veil of language. 

Nilekani claims, “The power of Aadhaar as an anti-corruption tool stems from its uniqueness. A unique number linked to an individual’s biometrics means that no one else can pretend to be the person receiving benefits, and therefore cannot defraud him or her.”

The fact is that he has himself revealed in the US that biometric Aadhaar is a tool for surveillance. Not surprisingly, lower court of Goa and CBI sensed it.  

Delivering a lecture at Center for Global Development at Washington on 22 April 2013 Nilekani admitted, “Now, biometrics has a big history in the world. Biometrics was first used in India in the 1870s, when the British used it for land titling, and they also used people's fingerprints to record the registration of documents. Historically, and up until a few years ago, the use of biometrics was essentially in forensics. It was about using biometrics for crime investigation and crime protection… But, after 9/11, biometrics has increasingly been used for the purpose of surveillance, or security, or for immigration control.”

Has Nilekani or Congress party ever informed fellow congressmen or compatriots that its biometric Aadhaar is going to be used for surveillance and security etc.? Is Congress Party ignorant of the fact that on 16 August 1908, in a public protest under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, certificates based on biometric data like fingerprints were burnt?  

Nilekani claims, “It is increasingly the people most interested in diversion and continuing corruption, who will be most resistant to using Aadhaar for services.”

A list of the names of Congress MPs, MLAs and ministers who are promoters of Aadhaar to reveal in writing as to who all among them have enrolled for Aadhaar and subjected themselves to biometric profiling. It is the Congress party’s MP’s, MLAs and ministers “who are the people most interested in diversion and continuing corruption.” 

The claim that “Aadhaar is the first identity for a lot of Indians across the country” is factually incorrect. Indians have 16 pre-existing identity proofs endorsed by the Election Commission of India including voter ID cards. Congress, as a party, which got 89.11% of its money from unaccounted sources and unnamed sources, will have us believe unlike the Election Commission, that all the parliamentary elections and those who were elected, were voted without Indians having any identity.

Now that these scandalous facts that have pernicious implication for the life and death of India as a sovereign nation-state, it is intriguing as to why while opposition parties like Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and CPI, CPM and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Medha Patkar have denounced biometric Aadhaar but refrained from promising that they will scrap Aadhaar and UID number generating NPR related programs because it is manifestly illegal. It is baffling as why instead of dealing with the issue of world’s biggest biometric database matter urgently, it has been listed for hearing on 28 April 2014 after the sixth phase of the nine phase election on 24th April is over.

Member’s RTI pleas anger Bandra housing society

Times of India: Mumbai: Sunday, March 30, 2014.

The managing committee of a housing society in Bandra has issued expulsion notice to one of its member citing filing of RTI applications as one of the reasons.

The 96-year-old Salsette CHS, which has 210 plot owners as its members, in the tony Bandra (W) has issued an expulsion notice to Leslie Almeida, a member of the society. Almeida was a served a show-cause notice on February 10, asking why he should not be expelled for his various misdemeanors, including filing 54 applications under the Right to Information Act. He has been seeking information about various buildings that are members of the society.

A special general body meeting of the society has been called on Sunday evening to decide on the matter. Cornel Gonsalves, secretary, Salsette CHS, said there are several other serious charges against Almeida. The notice also states that in 2009, when a similar threat of expulsion had been made, Almeida had issued an unconditional apology but since he did not mend his ways, it was once again forced to consider his expulsion. However, Almeida claimed he had given the apology under duress.

The society, said Gonsalves, had been unnecessarily dragged into an almost decade-long property dispute between Almeida and his brother Dr Selwyn. "We and the deputy registrar are being unnecessarily harassed. We have built up as many as 15 files on this plot dispute," he said. Dr Selwyn is a member of the managing committee.

Almeida, however, said he had used RTI to expose various illegalities in Bandra and in the Salsette society.

Over 400 IAF personnels died since 1995

DNA: Mumbai: Saturday, March 29, 2014.

While five people may have died on Friday due to the Indian aircraft C-130J super hercules crashing, the total number of Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel the nation has lost since 1994 stands at 424 till 2013. The figure was revealed after an RTI application was filed by RTI activist, Chetan Kothari.

The reason for them losing their lives ranges from accidents, fall, heart attacks, natural, firing and unnatural deaths that include suicide. With respect to suicides, around 29 suicides took place since 1994. The reasons for the same ranged from financial, domestic, marital, stress, depression, illicit relations, failed love affair and unknown reasons.

The most number of deaths, however, were due to unnatural causes as per the details provided by the air force. These were available from different command control regions. Figures from the Delhi region, that has the central command put the figure of unnatural death at 216.

This was followed eastern air command central based in Shillong that reported unnatural deaths at 49. This was followed by command centre based in Allahabad that reported 42 deaths, south western command region in Gandhinagar with 35 deaths, training command centre in Bangalore with deaths reported at 25, Nagpur region at 16 and southern headquarters in Trivandrum region with 12 deaths reported.

Surprisingly, most unnatural deaths were due road traffic accidents, followed by health issues like heart attack, brain stroke among others. However, the information provided did not make it clear whether these happened on duty or otherwise. "I think the high number of deaths in road accidents should be looked at for the reasons. Suicides and health related deaths need to be given medical attention and counselling at regular intervals," said Chetan Kothari.

dna could not reach out to the IAF for comment.

Info panel orders BMC to act on delay over Vikhroli mall

DNA: Mumbai: Saturday, March 29, 2014.

The state information commissioner has ordered the municipal commissioner to fix responsibility for the delay in providing information about the legality of a Vikhroli mall.

In his order on March 18, Ratnakar Gaikwad stated that public information officer Bharambe, who was also an assistant engineer in the 'S' ward, was summoned by the commission to explain why action should not be taken against him for delaying to provide the information. (Bharambe's first name has not been mentioned in the order.)

RTI activist Dilip Gaikwad had in his application on September 30, 2013, sought to know why no action was taken against Vinayak Arcade Mall, in Vikhroli (West), which was an illegal construction, despite a court order to this effect.

Appearing before the commission, Bharambe said he had assumed that the applicant sought information for several illegal structures around the mall and not specifically about the mall and that collecting this information took some time.

Bharambe said that he had in a letter dated October 31, 2013, to the applicant, asked him to collect the documents available. He said that his office had also informed the applicant to inspect the documents, but the applicant did not visit the office till November 11. 2013.

Subsequently, the applicant went in for the first appeal.

The information commissioner stated in his order that there had been a delay in providing the information and he directed the civic chief, Sitaram Kunte, to conduct an inquiry into the matter, fix responsibility and take action against all those responsible for the delay.

Gaikwad asked the civic chief to submit a report on the matter by May 31, 2014.

RTI query exposes scam in recruitment of Telangana University faculty

Times of India: Hyderabad: Friday, March 28, 2014.

A report obtained under the Right to Information Act has thrown light on a massive recruitment scam in Telangana University.

According to the report, several faculty members who joined the university this January do not have even the basic qualifications required to be considered for the posts they currently occupy. Incidentally, the recruitment notification issued by the university on May 25, 2012 was challenged in the high court.

While the court had vacated the stay on recruitments after the university filed a counter petition, sources alleged that the report of the probe committee set up by the Andhra Pradesh State Council of Higher Education (APSCHE) was not submitted before to the court.

The report (a copy of which is in the possession TOI) says some candidates were recruited in posts not related to their field of study. The report also names candidates who did not have enough teaching experience to qualify for such key jobs. It also throws light on flaws in awarding marks to deserving candidates. "Several candidates who deserved better marks were awarded less and others were promoted," a source alleged. As per the report, the notification issued by the university violated norms of recruitment. Curiously, the recruitment has not yet been ratified by the Executive Council of (EC) of the university.

The report says that while the university scrapped five-year integrated programme in two streams (economics and chemistry) and replaced them with two-year masters programme, recruitment notification listed posts for the former.

This in fact changed even the 'roster' points, thereby affecting the future recruitment process, the report said.

In 2012, contract lecturers (academic consultants) had accused the university administration of resorting to foul methods in recruitment of professors, associate and assistant professors. Allegations of the university authorities taking Rs.10 lakh to Rs.50 lakh for ineligible candidates to give them postings flew thick.

Following the latest report, Telangana University Academic Consultants Association has asked the university to cancel the recruitments. "As we have been fighting this battle for the past two years, the university has turned against us. Ten of the 50 contract lecturers were thrown out for challenging the recruitment," an association member said.

RTI report exposes misuse of MPLADS funds

Nagaland Post: Dimapur: Friday, March 28, 2014.

Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC), Vigilance Cell (VC) Thursday accused Naga People’s Front (NPF) Members of Parliament, both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha of mismanaging Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) funds during their tenure and also of “unjust treatment” meted out to various districts by the two MPs C.M. Chang (Lok Sabah) and Khekiho Zhimomi (Rajya Sabha).

In a statement, NPCC-VC said both NPF representatives had “randomly mis-utilized” MPLADS funds and there has been “discrepancies” detected with no proper work order.

NPCC Vigilance Cell made the allegations based on an RTI seeking details of MPLADS during the period 2009-10 to 2012-13.

According to the RTI report provided by the NPCC-VC showed that the Centre allocated a total amount of Rs. 1400 lakhs each to both the MPs between 2009-10 to 2012-13. According to the data provided by the RTI, the MPLADS fund was distributed to just three districts – Dimapur (Rs. 1307 lakhs), Zunheboto (Rs. 76 lakhs) and Mokokchung (Rs. 17 lakh) by the Rajya Sabha MP for the year 2011-12 and 2012-13. All the rest of the districts did not get any share.

MPLADS fund allocated for the Lok Sabha seat was distributed in all the districts by the Lok Sabah MP between 2009-10 to 2012-13. However, each time the allocation was distributed at an annual basis, some districts were left out.

RTI activist suicide: 'Will probe allegations against policemen later,' says Chakan police

Mid-Day: Mumbai: Friday, March 28, 2014.

A day after Right To Information (RTI) activist Vilas Baravkar committed suicide, Chakan police seemed to be doing little to investigate the allegations he made in his suicide note against several senior police officers.

“We are looking into the allegations made by Baravkar against his relatives, but will investigate the role of police officers later,” said a senior police official who is part of the investigation team.

On Wednesday, the police called Baravkar’s family members and handed them his belonging after his post-mortem was conducted art Chakan rural hospital.

Sushil Shevkare, Baravkar’s son-in-law, said, “We were called by the police to collect his belongings. The cops haven’t informed us about the investigation details. They have not even recorded our statements.”

Asked about the police protection the Baravkar family had demanded following his death, Sushil said, “We will be submitting an application to the Chakan police on Saturday, after completing the last rituals. We have requested senior police officials to provide police protection to us. I hope they take a decision soon.”

Additional superintendent of police (SP), Vijaykumar Magar, told reporters that an enquiry has been initiated and the probe has been transferred to deputy SP Vaibhav Kalubarme.

Baravkar was found hanging from the ceiling in his room on Tuesday morning at his Chakan residence. He was an active RTI campaigner and had unearthed many scams including the one embroiling a Rajgurunagar cooperative bank, whose top brass, he had alleged, were involved in illegal construction activities and economic offences.

He had also exposed other shady land dealings in Chakan-Khed area. He had been provided police protection four years ago, when he began receiving death threats.

Make all information sought by Vilas Baravkar public, demand RTI activists

DNA: Mumbai: Friday, March 28, 2014.

A day after the suicide of Pune-based activist Vilas Dattatreya Baravkar, RTI activists in Mumbai and other parts of the state have written to the state information commission pointing out security issues related to them.

The letter addressed to state chief information commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad points at the increasing incidents of attacks on RTI activists. Apart from requesting him to intervene in the matter, activists have also urged Gaikwad that he direct the public authorities, to whom Baravkar made applications, to suo motu declare all the details.

Section 4 of the RTI Act talks about suo motu declaration by public authorities.

The letter also demands speedier investigation, stringent and fast action to book the culprits, allow family members of activists to write about their plight in the annual report of the information commission submitted to the state legislature.

Based on a report compiled by Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, dna reported on December 23, 2013 that Maharashtra had the highest number of death of activists which were related to filing RTI applications. With the killing of Thane-based activist Abrar Shaikh due to his alleged use of RTI, the figure stood at nine. After Baravkar's death, it is now 10.

"One more RTI martyr from our state... it's a matter of great concern. We condemn this dastardly act of eliminating activists who use their fundamental right to expose wrong-doing," wrote Bhaskar Prabhu of Mahiti Adhikar Manch, an organisation that works towards RTI.

Pune-based activist Vihar Durve, who wrote a letter to not just the information commissioner but also to the governor and the chief minister, drew attention to the attacks on RTI activists. The number of attacks, including deaths, stood over 30.

"I feel that all stake holders of RTI should have some mention in the annual report. Family members of activists should be allowed to mention their plight so that the legislature too takes note of it," said Durve.

Chief information commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad told dna: "I have asked the Pune commissioner to dig out all of Bavarkar's applications and direct the public authorities to suo motu declare all information he wanted. Families writing on annual report may not be possible because the reports have a specific purpose. However, we have mentioned about the attacks in the report and have also asked the state to provide protection to activists."

Protest in Himachal village over shifting of hydro project

Newstrack India: Himachal Pradesh: Thursday, March 27, 2014.

Chamba, March 26 (IANS) Hundreds of villagers Wednesday staged a protest in Himachal Pradesh against the arrest of woman activists who were demanding shifting of a hydropower project.

The 180 MW Bajoli Holi hydropower project, located some 70 km from Chamba, has been facing a public outcry since 2010 as the locals say it could not only displace them but also affect the local ecology.

Twenty-five villagers were arrested Tuesday evening on charges of forcibly stopping the project authorities to carry out construction activity, a police official told IANS.

He said they have been booked under various sections including 332 (causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty) and 153-A (promoting enmity).

Local activist Mangni Ram said the women were staging a peaceful protest when they were arrested.

"We will not allow the project people to axe trees (from the project site) and carry out any construction activity."

Ram said the project has secured forest clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forests without the consent of the local gram sabhas in violation of the Forest Rights Act of 2006.

"Holi and its nearby villages are going to be hit badly by the project... resulting in deforestation, drying up of water channels and even forced displacement," he added.

Environmental activist Rahul Saxena said the forest clearance was given merely on the basis of a certificate issued by the deputy commissioner of Chamba stating that there were no forest rights to be settled on the 75 hectare forest land to be diverted for the project.

"The original survey of the project conducted by the state electricity board has proposed 15-km long tunnel and powerhouse of the project on the uninhabited right bank of the Ravi river but the company has shifted them to the left bank having dense forests," he said.

He said over 3,000 population of four gram panchayats in Holi area would be affected.

"The decision to shift the powerhouse... by the project proponent GMR is flawed," said Saxena, quoting a report of state-run Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Ltd (HPSEBL).

According to the HPSEBL report -- accessed by Saxena through Right to Information (RTI), although constructing the project on the right bank of the river would result in additional construction time of one-to-two years, not doing so would result in avoidable losses to the locals and environment.

"One cannot destroy an oasis in a desert only because it is more convenient to work there," says the report.

The state government awarded the hydropower project to GMR Hydro Power on build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) basis for 40 years from the date of commissioning.

The company aims to commission the project by January 2018.

Kids vanish as Tamil Nadu sleeps

Times of India: Chennai: Thursday, March 27, 2014.

This is no magic trick. It is a serious problem that the government is directly responsible for: More children are vanishing into thin air in the state with each passing year. The state has not only contributed to the worrying development but has neither a solution nor the resolve to tackle it, forget about a magic wand.

Eight children go missing in Tamil Nadu every day, a large majority of whom are girls.

Data obtained through the RTI Act shows there has been a steady increase in cases of missing children in the state from 2,325 in 2010 to 3,063 in 2013. As many as 203 children vanished in 14 days, starting from January 1 this year.

The government has not been napping on the job. It's done a Rip Van Winkle. Its Missing Child Bureau, in the department of social defence, has existed only in name for the past seven years, with the state failing to appoint any official to the bureau since 2007.

The government set up the bureau in 2001 to coordinate with enforcement agencies and track down missing children. The official reason for it being dysfunctional is that the government is short of manpower: An excuse that's hard to believe given how overstaffed the offices of some departments are.

According to government statistics, 11,026 children have gone missing since 2010 and 879 remain untraced, with police failing to account for 488 girls and 391 boys. The breakup weighs heavily against girls, who account for 7,002 cases or 63% of the total, as compared to boys (4,024), a skew that the government should consider a cause for serious concern. The Juvenile Justice Act stipulates that an officer in every police station should be trained in child welfare. But, as social activist A Narayanan says, most police stations don't have child welfare officers.

"The fact is that the Missing Child Bureau has virtually shut down and police stations in TN don't have child welfare officers," said Narayanan, whose PIL on trafficking of children from the Northeast is pending before the Madras high court. "That's why more children are going missing every year." Activists say people working for gangs that have networks across the state snatch newborns from government hospitals in cities like Chennai and abduct children from busy public places.

Children who go missing face an uncertain future at best. Most often, activists say, organised gangs make them beg on the streets or work in factories, illegally sell their organs for transplantation or force them into child sex rackets.

Activists like Virgil D'Sami, executive director of child rights NGO Arunodhaya, estimate that half of all missing children cases are unreported, mostly because the victims are from families of migrant workers who cannot communicate with local officials because they don't know Tamil or English.

The Tamil Nadu police have their own take on the statistics. A senior police officer said the rise in missing children cases was mainly because of an increase in public awareness. "Also, most missing children are runaways," he said.

But facts and figures show that the assertion is specious. Here's a pointer to the state's lack of concern about the problem. The Supreme Court had in March 2013 issued notices to the Centre and states, asking them to file status reports on missing children. When Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Arunachal Pradesh failed to meet a deadline extended by the apex court to submit the reports, a furious Supreme Court bench threatened to order the arrest of chief secretaries of these states.

Had things gone according to plan, the government would have tasked its Missing Child Bureau to prepare the reports. But the bureau is missing itself.

Economic Offences Wing detains three Shreesurya agents

Times of India: Nagpur: Thursday, March 27, 2014.

Nagpur crime branch's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) on Wednesday detained three Shreesurya group's agents for interrogation and were in process of taking them into custody. These are first detentions, other than those of group's director's in the multi-crore scam. Agents A Suryawanshi, Nishikant Mayee and P Dange were detained on Wednesday. Group's director Sameer Joshi and his wife Pallavi are already in custody since last October and have been denied bail by various courts.

Investigating officer Vishnu Bhoye said they were grilling the trio on the basis of 820 complaints lodged at various police stations in the city. "In all probability, we will take them in custody as we need to investigate more into the matter. We need to produce them in the court for the same on Thursday," he said.

Shreesurya Group collected funds from over 5,000 investors, many of them senior citizens, and guaranteed to double the amount invested in a couple of years. The scheme collapsed as the group failed to pay promised returns. As a result of many complaints, including that in Pune, Amravati and Akola, Joshi couple was arrested by EOW.

The group began operations with the blessings of a Anjangaon Surji-based godman in 2005 inviting deposits from the public at large promising returns as high as 30 to 70% per annum through various schemes. The group, that projected itself as a Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) to avoid coming under Companies Act, also floated a money doubling plan with a two-year tenure and an insurance scheme without approval from Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA). The fraud came to light after an NGO got replies through RTI queries that none of the schemes floated by Joshi was recognized by Security and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

Delayed SCLR project cost stands at Rs 450 crore

DNA: Mumbai: Thursday, March 27, 2014.

The project cost of Santa Cruz-Chembur Link Road (SCLR) is constantly increasing with every missing deadline. The latest estimate for this link road is Rs450 crore, which is 391.30 per cent more than the initial estimate.

"The work on this project is underway for 8 years now and its price has kept on increasing. There is no definite project pricing and deadline set by the authorities," said Right to Information (RTI) activist Anil Galgali.

As per the reply received through RTI from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), the latest estimated project cost is Rs450 crore.

The first estimate in 2003, when the project work began, was Rs114.96 crore.

In August 2011, the project cost of the very same 3.5km-long infrastructure project was Rs254.76 crore.

Even though MMRDA officials have been maintaining that work on the project will get completed by March 31, officials requesting anonymity say that it will open only by mid-April.

The delay in the project has primarily been due to rehabilitation and resettlement related works. The World Bank was earlier assisting by way of loans to finance the project, but due to constant delays in completing it, they withdrew from the project.

The Santa Cruz-Chembur Link Road will help reducing traffic congestion on the roads of Santa Cruz – Kalanagar – Dharavi – Sion – Chembur.

Centre concedes giving training to Lankan Navy

The Hindu: Madurai: Thursday, March 27, 2014.

The Union Ministry of External Affairs has conceded that the Centre has been imparting long-term and short-term training in technical and non-technical streams for Sri Lankan Navy personnel in order to enhance maritime security in the region.

However, it has refused to disclose details of training modules and domestic locations where such training is being imparted on the ground that they relate to information shared with a foreign country and, therefore, exempted from being disclosed under the Right to Information Act, 2005.

Mayank Joshi, Deputy Secretary (Sri Lanka) and Chief Public Information Officer (CPIO) of the Ministry, had made the observation in reply to an RTI application filed by K.K. Ramesh, Managing Trustee of Tamil Nadu Centre for Public Interest Litigation, a Madurai-based NGO.

Similar question

The CPIO also said All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Member of Parliament P. Venugopal, representing Tiruvallur constituency, had raised a similar question in the Lok Sabha and wanted to know the details of training imparted to Lankan Navy personnel.

Answering the question on February 5 this year, Union Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur had said: “Training exchanges are conducted regularly between defence personnel of India and various neighbouring countries, including Sri Lanka.

“Training assistance to Sri Lankan Navy officers is being undertaken by (the) government with a view to further enhancing maritime security in the region. Short-term and long-term training programmes, in technical and non-technical streams, are conducted for armed forces personnel of foreign countries, including Sri Lanka.”

The RTI applicant had made an identical application to the Union Ministry of Defence too. But it was rejected by its Under Secretary Prem Prakash on the ground that the information sought for could not be provided in view of the bar on disclosing classified information.

Nevertheless, armed with the External Affairs Ministry’s reply, Mr.Ramesh filed a public interest litigation petition in the Madras High Court Bench here seeking a direction to restrain the Centre from providing training to the Lankan Navy.

The case came up before a Division Bench comprising Justices A. Selvam and V.S. Ravi on Tuesday, and it directed the High Court Registry to post it before a Division Bench of Justices V. Ramasubramanian and V.M. Velumani on Wednesday.

Transparency question stares in CPI(M) face

The Hindu: Kerala: Thursday, March 27, 2014.

Is the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] bound to disclose its inquiry report into the Revolutionary Marxist Party leader T.P. Chandrasekharan murder case?

With the Lok Sabha poll date nearing, the United Democratic Front (UDF) is snapping at the party’s heels, challenging the CPI(M) to be transparent about the report.

“In the time of Right to Information Act, when information is flowing in from all quarters, the CPI(M), as a responsible political party, should publish the details and findings of their report into this political murder,” Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala told The Hindu on Tuesday during a visit here.

Public status

But the ‘public’ status of a political party has raised conflicting stands within the legal and legislative framework. In fact, the debate hinges on the larger question whether a political party is a ‘public authority’ or not under Section 2(h) of the Right to Information Act, 2005. The RTI seems to be the only avenue to access the report, unless the CPI(M) volunteers to make it public.

On one side, a Central Information Commission (CIC) decision of June 3, 2013 had declared that political parties enjoy statutory status under Section 29A of the Representation of the People (RP) Act, 1951, and hence were ‘public authorities’.

CIC reasoning

The CIC had based its order on the reasoning that “political parties affect the lives of citizens, directly or indirectly, in every conceivable way and are continuously engaged in performing public duty. It is, therefore, important that they became accountable to the public”.

The Commission reasoned that political parties wield constitutional status under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution as they have the power to disqualify legislators from the Parliament and State Assemblies, bind legislators in their speeches and voting inside the house, decide what laws are made, decide whether government remains in power or which government should come to power and, lastly, decide public policies that affect lives of millions of people.

The Union Cabinet went on to counter the CIC by tabling the RTI (Amendment) Bill, 2013 on August 12, 2013. The pending Bill intends to amend the 2005 Act to exclude the political parties from the definition of ‘public authority’.

It explains that “political parties do not fall within the parameters of the definition of public authority given in the RTI Act, as they are only registered and recognised under the RP Act, 1951”.

If passed, the Bill would apply retrospectively, that is, with effect from June 3, 2013 – the date of CIC decision.

A Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice has also countered the CIC in a report in December 2013. It said political parties are not public authorities as they have not been created directly under the Indian Constitution.

Parliamentary report

The parliamentary report had further criticised the CIC, saying it gave too liberal an interpretation of the usage ‘public authority’ and made political parties open to motivated and malicious RTI applications from rival parties.

RTI activists and legal experts differ on whether the CPI(M) is bound to disclose the inquiry report on RTI request.

“As of now, the CIC decision bringing political parties under RTI ambit stands. There has been no amendment to the 2005 Act nor have any of the six political parties, including the CPI(M), challenged the CIC decision with a writ application in the Delhi High Court. I am personally going to file a complaint with the CIC against the non-implementation of the June 3 order by political parties,”

D.B. Binu, noted RTI activist, said. “The decision of a quasi-judicial body like the CIC can only be practically considered as an opinion. Ideally, the question whether political parties are public authorities or not should be left to the Legislature to decide,” Kaleeswaram Raj, senior advocate at the Kerala High Court, said.