A Concerned And Awake Citizen

Can the stand of media on Gaddaffi be really trusted?

legalfighter — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 16:13:30 +0000

Zimmetro — The media has successfully painted Gaddafi as a hard-core dictator, tyrant whatever you want to call him. However, the media as usual has also failed to show the kind, giving Gaddafi we never heard of. Gaddafi unlike most dictators I will refrain from naming them has managed to show his humane side, the very side we dream of seeing in other dictators who just talk and talk.

I consider Libyans lucky to a certain extent and one wonders with the new democratic rule they cry for will it improve or worsen life for them. Yes, Gaddafi has spent millions of Libya`s money on personal ventures but is the average Libyan poor? We know others who take a country and destroy it until you feel like there is no hope of restoring this country… looting some prefer to call it. Did Gaddafi loot Libya in any way?

Now let us get to the unknown facts about the Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi:

1. There is no electricity bill in Libya; electricity is free for all its citizens.
2. There is no interest on loans, banks in Libya are state-owned and loans given to all its citizens at 0% interest by law.
3. Home considered a human right in Libya – Gaddafi vowed that his parents would not get a house until everyone in Libya had a home. Gaddafi’s father has died while him, his wife and his mother are still living in a tent.
4. All newlyweds in Libya receive $60,000 Dinar (US$50,000) by the government to buy their first apartment so to help start up the family.

Traditional wedding in Tripoli, Libya

5. Education and medical treatments are free in Libya. Before Gaddafi only 25% of Libyans are literate. Today the figure is 83%.
6. Should Libyans want to take up farming career, they would receive farming land, a farming house, equipments, seeds and livestock to kick-start their farms – all for free.
7. If Libyans cannot find the education or medical facilities they need in Libya, the government funds them to go abroad for it – not only free but they get US$2,300/mth accommodation and car allowance.
8. In Libyan, if a Libyan buys a car, the government subsidized 50% of the price.
9. The price of petrol in Libya is $0.14 per liter.
10. Libya has no external debt and its reserves amount to $150 billion – now frozen globally.

Great Man-Made River project in Libya… $27 billion

11. If a Libyan is unable to get employment after graduation the state would pay the average salary of the profession as if he or she is employed until employment is found.
12. A portion of Libyan oil sale is, credited directly to the bank accounts of all Libyan citizens.
13. A mother who gave birth to a child receive US$5,000
14. 40 loaves of bread in Libya costs $ 0.15
15. 25% of Libyans have a university degree
16. Gaddafi carried out the world’s largest irrigation project, known as the Great Man-Made River project, to make water readily available throughout the desert country.
Which other dictator has done much good to his people besides

Case Diaries are available to accused under the RTI Act

legalfighter — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 09:30:31 +0000

Here’s my experience about filing an RTI to this effect and getting the case diaries successfully :-

After reaching the commission, my case was called and arguments started. Inspector had not come, one representative from DCP’s office had come. Argument from police side was that case diary cannot be given as it will impede the process of investigation since the case is under trial and hence information rejected as per Section 8(1)(h) of RTI Act.

My arguments, since the police has filed the chargesheet for the said case long back, and hence the role of police is over, it is impossible that the process gets impeded as the process is already over. Moreover, it is my right to get this information and the same cannot be denied.

Also, the DCP office calling me in person is a harassment to me. I am not asking anything illegal and why should I be harassed. Also cited that there have been other cases where Case Diaries have been provided on request thro RTI application.

KIC was trying to protect the police. But I strongly argued that I will not buy this argument that investigation will get impeded. The investigation is already over and I see no reason for denying the requested information to me.

Seeing my firm stand and the arguments, the KIC was not able to dispose my complaint and has given next date of 14th September.

14th September:

I used the following 2 citations and argued in the ensuing manner:-

Decision No.CIC/SG/A/2009/002302/4945 and Appeal No. CIC/SG/A/2009/002302

Use Delhi HC decision
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI 10
+ W.P.(C) 12428/2009 & CM APPL 12874/2009 DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF POLICE ….. Petitioner
Through Mr. Pawan Sharma, Standing counsel with Mr. Sanjay Lao, APP and Mr. Laxmi Chauhan, Advocate
along with SI Anil Kumar, Anti Corruption Branch
versus
D.K.SHARMA ….. Respondent In person.
CORAM: JUSTICE S. MURALIDHAR
ORDER 15.12.2010

and

STATE INFORMATION COMMISSION, PUNJAB
SCO No. 84-85, 2nd Floor, Sector 17-C, CHANDIGARH.
Smt. Jagvinder Kaur,
w/o Gurpreet Singh Mansahia,
c/o Master Sukhdev Singh,
Uchhi Pully, Shivam Chowk,
Chahal Colony, St. No. 3,
Patiala Bye-pass, Sangrur, Punjab.
_________Complainant
Vs.
Public Information Officer,
O/o Senior Superintendent of Police,
Bathinda.
________ Respondent
CC No. 3209 of 2009

My Arguments:

Attended the hearing, my case was called first. I was wearing the MRA Tee. I started my arguments. Based on the 2 judgments that I had, I put across the arguments. I said, the police is empowered to deny case diaries to accused as per Section 172 (3) of CrPC, however, Section 22 of the RTI Act has an overriding effect on all other laws and hence I am entitled to get the information. Secondly, Section 8(1)(h) exemption cannot be applied as a blanket rule, the Delhi HC has observed that proper justification must be given as to how the information can hamper investigation/prosecution and as per Section 19 (5) of the Act, this onus lies on the PIO. This has not been done in this case. And Right to Information is my constitutional right, the RTI Act merely lays down the procedure and rules for the same. 8(1((h) cannot used to deny giving information. Then DCP (who had appeared in person) argued that they normally have some “confidential information” in case diaries which are not there in chargesheet. Then I argued that unless the court has expressly barred from providing the information, the same cannot be denied and if the “confidential information” as mentioned by the FAA is never revealed, it will never affect prosecution and investigation also unless we assume chargesheet was filed after pre-mature investigation. Finally KIC ordered that as per Sec 22, the information has to be provided and I was handed over the copies then and there itself

Download the order copy from here

Ye desh hai tumhara, khaa jaao iss ko tal ke

legalfighter — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 07:45:47 +0000

नेताओ की डगर पे, चमचो दिखाओ चल के
यह देश है तुम्हारा, खा जाओ इस को तल के
पुलिस से लाइन अपनी, हरदम मिलाये रखना
गुंडों से लाइन अपनी, हरदम जमाये रखना
इस आईडिया पर चल के, CM बनोगे कल के
नेताओ की डगर पे, चमचो दिखाओ चल के
यह देश है तुम्हारा, खा जाओ इस को तल के

भ्रष्टाचार की राह को छोड़ मत देना

सदियों की परंपरा तोड़ मत देना

इससे ही अंकुर प्रस्फुटित होंगे कल के

यह देश है तुम्हारा, खा जाओ इस को तल के

इतना लगाओ दम के दम भर जाए

इतना सताओ हमें के हम मर जाए

पर कभी न दिखाना खुद को बदल के

यह देश है तुम्हारा, खा जाओ इस को तल के

Compiled jointly Amitabh and Virag

Govt’s Lokpal Bill Vs Jan Lokpal Bill: Comparative Chart

legalfighter — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 16:16:37 +0000

Rather than gunning for the corrupt and corruption, government’s Lokpal seems to be gunning for those who complain against corruption.

How will Government’s Lokpal work?

Suppose some citizen files a complaint to Lokpal against some corrupt government servant.

Before the investigations actually start, the government servant can file a cross complaint against the citizen straight to the special court, without any preliminary enquiry by any agency, that the complaint is false or frivolous. The government will provide free advocate to the government servant to file this case. The citizen will have to defend himself on his own!

Then there is stiffer punishment for the complainant than the corrupt government servant. If the Special Court concludes that the complaint is frivolous or false, the citizen faces a minimum of two years of punishment. But if the corruption charges against government servant are proved, there is a minimum of six months of punishment for the corrupt government servant!

Government’s Lokpal will have jurisdiction over all NGOs in the country but it will have jurisdiction over less then o.5% of all government employees.

Government argued that the Lokpal would get overwhelmed with too many cases if all public servants were brought under its ambit. So, government has restricted its jurisdiction only to 65,000 Group A officers. Also, state employees will not be covered by Lokpal. There are 4 million central government employees and 8 million state government employees.

In sharp contrast, all NGOs are covered under government’s Lokpal, small or big, whether in state or centre. Even unregistered groups of people in remote villages are covered under the ambit of Lokpal. So, in a remote village, if a group of youngsters detect corruption in panchayat works using RTI, the youngsters can be hauled up by Lokpal but Lokpal would not have jurisdiction over Sarpanch, BDO or their corruption.

Whereas Lokpal would not have jurisdiction over Delhi government officials, it would have jurisdiction over all RWAs in Delhi. All small neighborhood groups who raise donations to do Ramlila or Durga Puja would be under Lokpal’s scanner.

Lokpal could haul up activists from any of the farmers, labour, anti-corruption, land, tribal or any other movements. All the movements – whether registered or not, are under the jurisdiction of Lokpal.

There are 4.3 lakh registered NGOs. But there would be several million unregistered groups across the country. Lokpal would have jurisdiction over all of them.

No one can dispute the fact that corruption in NGOs needs to be addressed. But how can you leave most public servants out of Lokpal’s purview but bring NGOs upto village level within its purview?

Issue	Our view	Government’s view	Comments
Prime Minister	Lokpal should have power to investigate allegations of corruption against PM. Special safeguards provided against frivolous and mischievous complaints	PM kept out of Lokpal’s purview.	As of today, corruption by PM can be investigated under Prevention of Corruption Act. Government wants investigations to be done by CBI, which comes directly under him, rather than independent Lokpal
Judiciary	Lokpal should have powers to investigate allegation of corruption against judiciary. Special safeguards provided against frivolous and mischievous complaints	Judiciary kept out of Lokpal purview.	Government wants this to be included in Judicial Accountability Bill (JAB). Under JAB, permission to enquire against a judge will be given by a three member committee (two judges from the same court and retd Chief justice of the same court). There are many such flaws in JAB. We have no objections to judiciary being included in JAB if a strong and effective JAB were considered and it were enacted simultaneously.
MPs	Lokpal should be able to investigate allegations that any MP had taken bribe to vote or speak in Parliament.	Government has excluded this from Lokpal’s purview.	Taking bribe to vote or speak in Parliament strikes at the foundations of our democracy. Government’s refusal to bring it under Lokpal scrutiny virtually gives a license to MPs to take bribes with impunity.
Grievance redressal	Violation of citizen’s charter (if an officer does not do a citizen’s work in prescribed time) by an officer should be penalized and should be deemed to be corruption.	No penalties proposed. So, this will remain only on paper.	Government had agreed to our demand in the Joint committee meeting on 23rd May. It is unfortunate they have gone back on this decision.
CBI	Anti-corruption branch of CBI should be merged into Lokpal.	Government wants to retain its hold over CBI.	CBI is misused by governments. Recently, govt has taken CBI out of RTI, thus further increasing the scope for corruption in CBI. CBI will remain corrupt till it remains under government’s control
Selection of Lokpal members	1. Broad based selection committee with 2 politicians, four judges and two independent constitutional authorities. 2. An independent search committee consisting of retd constitutional authorities to prepare first list. 3. A detailed transparent and participatory selection process.	1. With five out of ten members from ruling establishment and six politicians in selection committee, government has ensured that only weak, dishonest and pliable people would be selected. 2. Search committee to be selected by selection committee, thus making them a pawn of selection committee 3. No selection process provided. It will completely depend on selection committee	Government’s proposal ensures that the government will be able to appoint its own people as Lokpal members and Chairperson. Interestingly, they had agreed to the selection committee proposed by us in the meeting held on 7th May. There was also a broad consensus on selection process. However, there was a disagreement on composition of search committee. We are surprised that they have gone back on the decision.
Who will Lokpal be accountable to?	To the people. A citizen can make a complaint to Supreme Court and seek removal.	To the Government. Only government can seek removal of Lokpal	With selection and removal of Lokpal in government’s control, it would virtually be a puppet in government’s hands, against whose seniormost functionaries it is supposed to investigate, thus causing serious conflict of interest.
Integrity of Lokpal staff	Complaint against Lokpal staff will be heard by an independent authority	Lokpal itself will investigate complaints against its own staff, thus creating serious conflicts of interest	Government’s proposal creates a Lokpal, which is accountable either to itself or to the government. We have suggested giving these controls in the hands of the citizens.
Method of enquiry	Method would be the same as provided in CrPC like in any other criminal case. After preliminary enquiry, an FIR will be registered. After investigations, case will be presented before a court, where the trial will take place	CrPC being amended. Special protection being provided to the accused. After preliminary enquiry, all evidence will be provided to the accused and he shall be heard as to why an FIR should not be regd against him. After completion of investigations, again all evidence will be provided to him and he will be given a hearing to explain why a case should not be filed against him in the court. During investigations, if investigations are to be started against any new persons, they would also be presented with all evidence against them and heard.	Investigation process provided by the government would severely compromise all investigations. If evidence were made available to the accused at various stages of investigations, in addition to compromising the investigations, it would also reveal the identity of whistleblowers thus compromising their security. Such a process is unheard of in criminal jurisprudence anywhere in the world. Such process would kill almost every case.
Lower bureaucracy	All those defined as public servants in Prevention of Corruption Act would be covered. This includes lower bureaucracy.	Only Group A officers will be covered.	One fails to understand government’s stiff resistance against bringing lower bureaucracy under Lokpal’s ambit. This appears to be an excuse to retain control over CBI because if all public servants are brought under Lokpal’s jurisdiction, government would have no excuse to keep CBI.
Lokayukta	The same bill should provide for Lokpal at centre and Lokayuktas in states	Only Lokpal at the centre would be created through this Bill.	According to Mr Pranab Mukherjee, some of the CMs have objected to providing Lokayuktas through the same Bill. He was reminded that state Information Commissions were also set up under RTI Act through one Act only.
Whistleblower protection	Lokpal will be required to provide protection to whistleblowers, witnesses and victims of corruption	No mention in this law.	According to govt, protection for whistleblowers is being provided through a separate law. But that law is so bad that it has been badly trashed by standing committee of Parliament last month. The committee was headed by Ms Jayanthi Natrajan. In the Jt committee meeting held on 23rd May, it was agreed that Lokpal would be given the duty of providing protection to whistleblowers under the other law and that law would also be discussed and improved in joint committee only. However, it did not happen.
Special benches in HC	High Courts will set up special benches to hear appeals in corruption cases to fast track them	No such provision.	One study shows that it takes 25 years at appellate stage in corruption cases. This ought to be addressed.
CrPC	On the basis of past experience on why anti-corruption cases take a long time in courts and why do our agencies lose them, some amendments to CrPC have been suggested to prevent frequent stay orders.	Not included
Dismissal of corrupt government servant	After completion of investigations, in addition to filing a case in a court for prosecution, a bench of Lokpal will hold open hearings and decide whether to remove the government servant from job.	The minister will decide whether to remove a corrupt officer or not. Often, they are beneficiaries of corruption, especially when senior officer are involved. Experience shows that rather than removing corrupt people, ministers have rewarded them.	Power of removing corrupt people from jobs should be given to independent Lokpal rather than this being decided by the minister in the same department.
Punishment for corruption	1. Maximum punishment is ten years 2. Higher punishment if rank of accused is higher 3. Higher fines if accused are business entities 4. If successfully convicted, a business entity should be blacklisted from future contracts.	None of these accepted. Only maximum punishment raised to 10 years.
Financial independence	Lokpal 11 members collectively will decide how much budget do they need	Finance ministry will decide the quantum of budget	This seriously compromises with the financial independence of Lokpal
Prevent further loss	Lokpal will have a duty to take steps to prevent corruption in any ongoing activity, if brought to his notice. If need be, Lokpal will obtain orders from High Court.	No such duties and powers of Lokpal	2G is believed to have come to knowledge while the process was going on. Shouldn’t some agency have a duty to take steps to stop further corruption rather than just punish people later?
Tap phones	Lokpal bench will grant permission to do so	Home Secretary would grant permission.	Home Secretary is under the control of precisely those who would be under scanner. It would kill investigations.
Delegation of powers	Lokpal members will only hear cases against senior officers and politicians or cases involving huge amounts. Rest of the work will be done by officers working under Lokpal	All work will be done by 11 members of Lokpal. Practically no delegation.	This is a sure way to kill Lokpal. The members will not be able to handle all cases. Within no time, they would be overwhelmed.
NGOs	Only government funded NGOs covered	All NGOs, big or small, are covered.	A method to arm twist NGOs
False, Frivolous and vexatious complaints	No imprisonment. Only fines on complainants. Lokpal would decide whether a complaint is frivolous or vexatious or false.	Two to five years of imprisonment and fine. The accused can file complaint against complainant in a court. Interestingly, prosecutor and all expenses of this case will be provided by the government to the accused. The complainant will also have to pay a compensation to the accused.	This will give a handle to every accused to browbeat complainants. Often corrupt people are rich. They will file cases against complainants and no one will dare file any complaint. Interestingly, minimum punishment for corruption is six months but for filing false complaint is two years.

Please distribute this link to your friends and others who might be interested. You can also download the PDF from here.

Mera Bharat Mahaan

legalfighter — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 05:35:13 +0000

“Sau mein se assi be-imaan phir bhi mera bharat mahaan” – as I recollect this famous dialog of Nana Patekar from the movie “Yeshwant” which came years ago, it highlights the in-depth levels of unidentified corruption that has crept into our lives.

Today, “India against Corruption” has become almost like a fashion trend and fasting seems to be the flavor of the season. And almost every Indian seems to be considering oneself as a crusader against corruption. Some do so by expressing their solidarity with the fasting masqueraders aka Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev, some do so by visiting the Dharnas and shouting slogans and a vast majority of it does by posting links on Facebook/Twitter and attending events virtually.

Astounding as it may sound, but before going ballistic over what Anna or Baba are doing, let’s have a look at the other perspectives of such tactics.

Who knew Anna Hazare before he sat down for fasting? And today, he is being called a Mahatma! Does he really deserve the title, given the fact that he stepped down from the fast merely on being offered a position in the drafting committee of the Jan Lokpal Bill.

Did he really fast just to get into the committee?
What is the guarantee that Jan Lokpal Bill will eliminate the corrupt and stop corrupt practices?
Are the members of the Jan Lokpal Bill even aware of what corruption actually means?
Are the likes of Baba and Anna worth investing all hopes and emotions into them pertaining to the issue of corruption?
What about the political connections backing Anna?

Even, if we talk about Baba Ramdev, who is he? Someone who just teaches Yoga; what has a yoga teacher got to do with corruption and talk broadly about a politically correct issue unless has personal political aspirations and in such a scenario can Baba Ramdev guarantee that his politics will be corruption free?

Forget the guarantee, other day I was talking to one of my friends and he told me that there is a Baba Ramdev store near his office and he came to know that the store owner has been advised to ‘collect gatherings’ in wake of the increased number of people flocking to the Baba Ramdev stores in the event of his inflated fame. How, is that, not a gimmick to boost sales without any guarantee of outcome?

And if the Baba was so determined in his so called crusade against corruption, was only one so called midnight-swoop enough to deter him from his stand and side with the Government?

These so called Babas and Annas know one thing for sure – The Indian Citizens are very easily fooled. Earlier they fell for vague promises made by politicians and faulty schemes offered by the Government that were ill-conceived by the bureaucrats. Exasperated with that, now the foolish Indian Citizen or the “Stupid Common Man” is being fooled by the so called masqueraders against corruption.

Everyone is saying, “India against Corruption”, without realizing certain key aspects about corruption. Corruption is not limited to black money laundering, scamming, dwindling of public exchequer and bribing. These monetary facets are just one visible measure of the amount of rampant corruption that exists in the attitude of the Indian citizens.

By and large, it’s the Indian citizens that are corrupt for the simple reason that all these corrupt babus and politicians are Indian citizens, elected by Indian citizens, allowed to operate unchallenged and unquestioned by Indian citizens and at times, even worshipped by Indian citizens.

Why do most Indians refrain from entering politics citing it as a dirty arena and allow governance to be run by families?
Why do most Indians treat the Election Day as just another holiday, do not exercise their voting rights and have their say in the representatives elected?
Why do most Indians get ready to cast their vote, the moment they are offered television sets, on cash on vote?
Why do most Indians remain ignorant of legal knowledge and allow the legal agents to run the industry they want to?
Why are most Indians still unaware of the Right to Information Act (RTI Act) even as it enters 6^th year of its enactment?
Why do most Indians believe the media to such an extent that they use it as a medium of education?

The answer to all of the above is very simple – Indians do not want to take responsibility for their own lives; rather they just want a hero who they think will be honest enough to fight selflessly for them while they make hay under the sun. But the key question that arises is, “Are Indians themselves honest?” and the answer is an unfortunate NO.

I have seen instances of people jumping red lights in traffic and offering a Rs. 50 in order to escape full fine or looking for that opportunistic tout/agent for their official documents related woes like passport, ration card, driving license etc.

These citizens got an opportunity and they saved their money/effort by resorting to unnoticed or unidentified corrupt practices. The politicians and the bureaucrats did the same – at a much larger scale albeit – big deal?

Indian citizens need to realize that corruption is not a law and order problem that can be addressed by some magical Jan Lokpal Bill. Corruption is an issue of harboring malicious attitudes for favorable outcomes. Until and unless each and every citizen does not pledge to be honest and non-corrupt, the crusade against corruption be it by the Babas and Annas or by the citizens, is meaningless, hollow and superficial.

Why did Baba Ramdev agree to exclude judiciary and the PMO from ambit of the Jan Lokpal Bill?
On what basis, was it assumed that these offices are not corrupt?

Indian Judiciary is one of the worst judiciary in the whole world. It loves to sit on pile of cases and then cite the same pile as a reason of delay and ultimately chart out useless orders. Time and again, lack of transparency in the judiciary has been highlighted and I see no reason of exempting the judiciary from the ambit of the magical Jan Lokpal Bill, if it is to be assumed that this magical bill is the ram-baan for all corruption.

And Baba Ramdev supporting the exemption of the judiciary and the PMO casts reasonable doubt on the genuineness of his crusade. And until and unless, one is completely clear of corruption, should one be allowed to ride the chariot in the war against corruption?

It is surprising that Indians, who have performed wonders globally, are allowing such large scale mass-fooling of themselves, when it comes to issues related to law and order, governance, transparency and corruption and one after another, they are ready to invest their hopes and emotions in anyone who is ready to fool them. Indeed, “Mera Bharat Mahaan”.

A must understand for every Indian Citizen

legalfighter — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 08:07:27 +0000

Every Indian citizen should read this and understand their responsibility towards bringing the change they want to see in India.

Click here to download the PDF.

घोटाले का पैसा!

legalfighter — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 15:06:36 +0000

आदर्श हो या स्पेक्ट्रम टु-जी

राजा हो या चवान जी

चुप रहे क्यूँ मनमोहन जी

काले नाणे को वापस लाओ जी

राजीनामा देकर मत छूटोजी!

निचे लिखी कहानी सब पढ़ो जी

Indians are poor but INDIA is not a poor country”. Says one of the swiss bank directors. He says that “280 lac crore” of Indian money is deposited in swiss banks which can be used for ‘taxless’ budget for 30 yrs. Can give 60 crore jobs to all Indians. From any village to Delhi 4 lane roads. Forever free power supply to more than 500 social projects. Every citizen can get monthly 2000/- for 60 yrs. No need of World Bank & IMF loan. Think how our money is blocked by rich politicians. We have full right against corrupt politicians.

Itna forward karo ki pura INDIA padhe. Take this seriously, You can forward jokes, then why not this? Be a responsible citizen…

Sonia Gandhi Exposed

legalfighter — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 15:58:52 +0000

RTI to DMRC over persons died during construction

legalfighter — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 09:30:38 +0000

The following RTI has been filed to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation. Click the below link to see the RTI

RTI Data of persons died in DMRC Construction – Template

PS: Interested people are free to download the template, customize it and file the RTI.

Citizens’ Delight; Babu’s Plight

legalfighter — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 15:41:48 +0000

Today, 3^rd June 2010 was a great day for citizens in general and RTI activists in particular. For the uninitiated, RTI Act stands for “Right to Information Act” which was passed in the year 2005 to ensure good governance. This Act is a powerful tool in the hands of citizens to nail corrupt bureaucrats, popularly known as Babus. This Act empowers citizens to demand any information from the Babus pertaining to Governance, expenditure and actions taken by the various Govt. Depts.

As per Section 4(1) (a) and Section 4(1) (b), the Govt. authorities are supposed to display the names of Public Information Officers (PIOs), Assistant Public Information Officers (APIOs), Appellate Authorities (AAs), so that citizens do not face harassment while filing applications and know whom to file.

However, it came to the notice of a concerned and awake citizen that the Bangalore Police has not complied with these provisions of the Act and accordingly filed a complaint with the Karnataka Information Commission (KIC). The commission took note of the seriousness of the matter and directed all the 174 Police Inspectors (PIs) and 25 Deputy Commissioners of Police (DCPs) and the Commissioner of Police (CP) to comply with the Act and display the names of PIOs, APIOs and AAs and revert back to the Commission with compliance report on 3^rd June 2010.

And so, today, we all had gone to the KIC to see the tamasha. Officials from almost all the DCP offices had assembled and were handing over reports of their compliance to the citizen and whispering in his ears – “Sir, I have done the work.”

Now this was a treat to my eyes. These Babus have a lot of arrogance that they work for the Govt. and behave very rudely with people but today they were all subdued and were presenting their work to their boss – The Citizen.

As a citizen, it was my delight to see the Babu’s plight. This power comes only from the RTI Act. It gives us citizens the true value of the tax that we pay to the Govt. and allows us to demand accountability, transparency and fairness in their operation thus minimizing corruption.

But what’s more pertinent to mention here is that the bureaucrats are getting increasingly uncomfortable with the RTI Act as they are being put to scrutiny and the patronage of secrecy they were enjoying so far is now receding.

It a celebration time for every citizen, after all “A citizen’s delight is a babu’s plight”.