Re: Fw: [HumJanenge] PROTECTION OF WHISTLE BLOWER - LANDMARK RESOLUTION PROPOSED BY SHAILESH GANDHI, INFORMATION COMMISSIONER ADOPTED BY CIC

1) As the Commission has noted there are already strong laws in place
for this purpose - like the Indian Penal Code - one of the strongest
laws (on paper) India has..

2) I fail to see the (non-existent) connection between RTI Act and
using it to "fight" corruption. In fact I was the first person to
bring out this aspect before the CIC in case of Muzib-Ur-Rehman
whose :"whistle blowing" was causing grave threat to his life.. Mr
Habibullah tried his best (initially) to get the State Govt machinery
to provide him protection - despite great follow up to the Chief Secy
nothing came of it and finally the offending PSU had to volunteer to
provide 1 unarmed private security guard which was withdrawn after 3
months. Muzib-Ur-Rehman's is the most high profile case on this aspect
- and I would not advise anyone else to go through what we had to in
his case to save his life.

3) If anyone wants to "fight" corruption they should be prepared to
die for the noble cause - but my advise to such people is to please
keep RTI Act out of it and allow genuine RTI users to go about their
lives in peace.

Sarbajit

On Oct 5, 9:32 pm, "SHASHI KUMAR.A.R." <rudreshtechnol...@gmail.com>
wrote:
> Mr. Sushil Kumar , Only by publishing the information sought by  the victim
> who suffered will not solve any problem , The person who attacked or
> assaulted or killed an rti applicant shall be dealt with stringent laws ,
> even government should bring an law which may allow to the culprit must
> undergo life sentence or death sentence who killed an rti information seeker
> , who is trying to expose corruption
> Neither central government or Central information commission are not making
> any efforts to protect the lives of people who are fighting against
> corruption using rti act as an tool
>
> On Wed, Oct 5, 2011 at 8:20 PM, sushil kumar <drsushilku...@yahoo.com>wrote:
>
> > And, many whistle blowers have lost their sustenance  due to  the retaliation
> > of those whose financial improprieties are exposed.
>
> > It is hoped there is *some  effective provision* for  protection of
> >  their's, retrospectively (from the date the Govt. of India Resolution  on
> > Public Interest Disclosures & Protection of Informer came in to being).
>
> > Sushil Kumar
> > Chairman, Association of Historians
>
> > ----- Forwarded Message -----
> > *From:* M.K. Gupta <mkgupta...@yahoo.co.in>
> > *To:* "humjanenge@googlegroups.com" <humjanenge@googlegroups.com>
> > *Sent:* Wednesday, 5 October 2011 4:13 PM
> > *Subject:* [HumJanenge] PROTECTION OF WHISTLE BLOWER - LANDMARK RESOLUTION
> > PROPOSED BY SHAILESH GANDHI, INFORMATION COMMISSIONER ADOPTED BY CIC
>
> > *PROTECTION OF WHISTLE BLOWER - LANDMARK RESOLUTION PROPOSED BY SHAILESH
> > GANDHI, INFORMATION COMMISSIONER ADOPTED BY CIC *
> > *  *
> > *  *
> > *CIC SHIELD TO PROTECT **RTI** CRUSADERS*
> > If activists are attaced, Infor sought by them to be posted online.
>
> > MUMBAI: Central Information Commission<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Central-Information-Commission>(CIC) has come out with a landmark resolution to combat unending assaults on
> > right to information ( RTI ) activists. According to the resolution, if the
> > commission receives a complaint regarding an assault on or murder of an
> > information-seeker, it will examine pending RTI applications of the victim
> > and order the departments to publish the requested information suo motu on
> > their websites.
>
> > The resolution was mooted by information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi at a
> > meeting of the CIC in mid-September and its minutes were made public on
> > Tuesday.
>
> > "It can be an effective deterrent against attacks on RTI activists. If the
> > resolution is used 10 to 15 times, it can protect RTI activists. Nobody will
> > want to attack an activist,'' said Gandhi.
>
> > The CIC meeting addressed the need for governments to take responsibility
> > for the lives of information-seekers and protect them from assaults. "The
> > commission also resolves that it will take proactive steps in ascertaining
> > the status of investigations/prosecutions of cases involving
> > information-seekers and endeavors to have these processes expedited,'' the
> > minutes said.
>
> > RTI activists <http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/RTI-activists> are
> > usually attacked because of the nature of information they seek. If the
> > information is made public on the web every time an activist is attacked,
> > Gandhi said that instead of killing RTI activists, people about whom
> > information is sought will try and protect them. "If all information sought
> > by an RTI activist who is attacked or killed is published on the internet,
> > it will defeat the very purpose of attacking an activist,'' he added.
>
> > RTI activists have welcomed the move. Milind Mulay, an activist, said
> > people will think twice before attacking an RTI activist. Another activist,
> > Chetan Kothari, felt the move will increase transparency and reduce fraud.
> > He felt that publicising information sought by victims of assault will help
> > people understand the gravity of issues RTI activists seek to expose.
>
> > *PAST CASES*.
>
> > * Jan 2010: Pune RTI activist Satish Shetty, who exposed a series of land
> > scams, was hacked to death while on a morning walk.
>
> > * April 2010: Vitthal Gite, an RTI activist who exposed irregularities in a
> > village school in Beed ( Maharashtra ), was killed in a clash between two
> > groups.
>
> > * June 2011: Bhagu Devani, a 72-year-old RTI activist, was stabbed at
> > Porbander
>
> > * August 2011: Environmentalist and RTI activist Shehla Masood was killed
> > on her way to an Anna Hazare rally in Bhopal .
>
> > *Times View*
>
> > TOI applauds the Central Information Commission's bid to curb attacks on
> > RTI activists. The move will ensure people think twice before touching an
> > RTI activist. Under the new rules, if an information-seeker is attacked, all
> > his pending appeals will be answered on the website of the department. It
> > should act as a deterrent, as attacking an RTI activist will defeat the
> > purpose of keeping information under wraps.