Times
of India: Mumbai: Sunday, 06 September 2015.
It's been a
year since Sandeep Shetty quit his job and began fighting full time to bring
his brother's killers to book. Court hearings and a botched up CBI probe have
taken up much of his time over the last five years, ever since his brother
Satish was knifed to death in Pune while using the Right To Information Act to
expose land scams along the Mumbai-Pune expressway.
Satish is one
of 10 RTI activists killed in Maharashtra, a state that has recorded the
highest number of attacks, both fatal and otherwise, on RTI activists in India,
a decade after the country passed its sunshine transparency act.
Data compiled
by the Comonwealth Human Rights Initiative shows that 60 RTI activists were
attacked, harassed or killed in the state, the highest for the country.
When it comes
to murders, Gujarat and UP come second with 6 each, followed by Karnataka and
Bihar with 4 murders each. When it comes to a count of activists attacked,
killed or harassed, Gujarat comes second with 36, followed by UP at 25 and
Delhi at 23.
Most of
Maharashtra's RTI pleas related to land cases.
Maharashtra
has recorded the highest number of attacks 60 on RTI activists since the
law was passed a decade ago, followed by Gujarat (36), UP (25) and Delhi (23).
"While
we have no idea how many RTI applications are filed in UP, available data shows
us that the highest number of RTI applications filed across India is from
Maharashtra. This may have to do with organized networks of social activists
and a long tradition of using RTI. People are more aware of social problems in
the state. With such high volumes of RTI applications seeking information on
accountability and governance and exposing corruption, it's natural that a
number of activists will be under threat for taking on powerful people,"
says Venkatesh Nayak of Comonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI).
That a lion's
share of RTI applications in the state are filed over land use may have much to
do with why many of the RTI activists killed in Maharashtra were working on
exposing land scams. Take for instance Abrar Shaikh, who was working to expose
illegal construction in Bhiwandi when he was killed, or slain activist Vasant
Patil who sought information on illegal construction in Mumbai.
Getting
info even in RTI era is not easy
"Land
prices have hit the roof in Maharashtra. That's where all the money lies,"
says Shetty. After his brother's death in January 2010, he has had to battle a
complicit state machinery. "Elements in the police force were involved in
the plan to kill my brother. The police have, from the very beginning,
attempted to dilute the FIR and were initially unwilling to record the names of
those I had accused in my statement. On several occasions, the CBI
investigation officer wanted a warrant to arrest those involved in the case,
including some policemen, but he was not allowed to do so," says Shetty.
He adds that,
while CBI's investigation officer had tonnes of evidence against those accused
in the case, he was forced to file a closure report saying no evidence was
found.
"I then
moved the Bombay High Court which quashed CBI's closure. A new CBI team has now
been formed to reinvestigate the matter," he said. Until the CBI closure
report last year, Shetty juggled a job in Pune with frequent trips to Mumbai
for the investigations. "My employer was kind enough to give me leave to
fight the case," he says. But once the closure report was filed, he gave
up his job to devote 100% of his time to fight the case. While he has dipped
into his savings and does the occasional freelance job, his older brother who
lives in the US supports him financially so that he can fight the case.
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