Bangalore Mirror: Bangalore: Tuesday, July 14, 2015.
A document
running up to 22,000 pages at a cost of Rs 44,198 has set the record for being
the most voluminous document ever issued under the Right To Information (RTI)
by the anti-corruption watchdog institution Lokayukta.
Even the
illegal mining report that shook the political establishment in the state ran
up to just a little over 5,000 pages. This document pertains to the statement of
assets and liabilities submitted by 225 MLAs (Members of Legislative Assembly)
and also includes details about a few incumbent MLAs from the day they took
office years ago.
The colossal
document was handed over in June to an RTI and social activist Abraham T J who
had sought details on MLAs for not only this year but throughout their career
as incumbents ever since the Lokayukta institution came into existence in 1985,
a senior official with the Lokayukta told Bangalore Mirror.
Although the
submission of statement of assets and liabilities was required ever since the
anti-corruption watchdog institution came into existence, it had become
mandatory with awareness and sensitisation during the tenures of recent
Lokayuktas, especially during Justice M N Venkatachala's and Justice N Santosh
Hegde's tenures, an officer explained.
"The
applicant had sought every detail on statement of assets and liabilities the
organisation had. This included details of some MLAs who are not members only
this time, but are being elected for up to eight terms continuously. In such
cases, the details of the statement from day one till date of the RTI
application has been provided," an officer told Bangalore Mirror.
The document
mainly comprises of affidavits and has been issued upon payment of Rs 44,198.
The assets
and liabilities statements include details of movable and immovable assets and
liabilities each year over the years the MLAs.
The A
(assets) and L (liabilities) statement is considered the basis for assessing or
evaluating the rise or fall in assets, which can then be determined as
proportionate or disproportionate to known sources of income.
Disproportionate
assets to the known source of income of an MLA could land that particular MLA
in trouble.
However, the
only action under Lokayukta act pertaining to this issue is publishing in
newspapers the names of such MLAs for either failing to provide or providing
incorrect information.
But, they can
be prosecuted under the Prevention Of Corruption Act under section 13 (1) (e)
read with 13 (2) of PC act 1988, for disproportionate assets to the known
source of income.
"Some
applicants had expressed concern over the availability of assets and
liabilities statements under RTI. But with this, a message has been sent that
we will provide any document that could be shared with anybody under the RTI
Act. In this case, it was a tedious task as we had to gather information of
every term of every MLA. Some include those who were elected then lost and then
were re-elected. All these details were collated and given to the RTI
applicant," the official explained.
The Lokayukta
official said just like Abraham many other activists too have applied for
documents and all would be provided with the required documents.
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