Re: [HumJanenge] shailesh gandhi insult old appellant

Dear Ms. Deshmukh

I am sure you have fond memories of Shaileshji from his activist days.
Unfortunately I never knew him well enough in such capacity,

My first major interaction with him was on or about the 11/12th of
August 2008 when I met him (he was with Arvind Kejriwal) outside Mr
Habibullah's office. Shailesh had come down from Mumbai and we
discussed his impending hearing before Mr H since he had "sought
information that was going to bring the government down". As it
transpired, Shailesh became a Central IC soon thereafter and his
information request "abated" with his "death" (as an activist)
-perhaps it was just coincidence that the Govt did not fall down.
FYI, I had just come out of Mr. H's office where I and another person
who is certainly India's finest RTI user, had been invited by Mr.H to
"sit-in" on Shailesh's hearing, but we declined. The lady declined to
be within a 100 yards of NCPRI slimeballs like SG or AK.

My next major interaction with Shailesh was in his office, where I
asked to "sit-in" during his proceedings (this was in the first week
of his becoming an IC) under the concerned DoPT notified RTI Rule
which mandates decisions to be delivered in "open proceedings". I
found it very strange that IC(SG) was not aware of the concerned Rule.
I found it even stranger that he used to come with all his "home work"
done - ie. the decision had been pre-drafted and ready on his system,
and after a 2 minute token hearing he would simply hand over the order
on the spot with a few changes he made on the spot. I was amazed that
he was doing about 15 decisions per hour in this fashion. At least 2
appellants (who certainly knew RTI better than SG) were very upset and
asked/looked to me for assistance (I cant help it if I am known in
Delhi RTI circles). IC(SG) told me to SHUT UP and asked me to leave
the proceedings - I barely spoke 10 words very softly and respectfully
in the course of an hour..

The next I knew was that one of Delhi's RTI stalwarts (Mr Ravinder
Balwani) and I met a very senior officer of the MCD during the first 1
or 2 months of SG's regime. This officer (he was a FAA of a very
sensitive dept) gave us chapter and verse of SG's new avatar

Since then I have decided to ignore the man (SG), I cannot however
ignore his exceedingly pathetic decisions (mainly drafted by the 3rd
rate legal interns he pays for in luxury). All my comments about his
functioning as an IC are in the public domain. From time to time when
SG exceeds all norms I am aroused and write off to the powers that be
(who do nothing officially).

I for one am not at all surprised by Mr Mishra's email. His email is
only a symptom of the larger problem - and I shall be writing on this
at length,

Warmly.

Sarbajit
PS: Incidentally (though you may not agree), this group is a homage to
Masterji (who I knew fairly well over the internet - though we never
met in real life).

On 3/12/12, Vinita Vishwas Deshmukh <vinitapune@gmail.com> wrote:
> Sorry for the delay in replying to this message but like a good journalist,
> did not want to write till I spoke to the other party that is Shaileshji. .
> I have known Mr Shailesh Gandhi since his RTI activism days in Mumbai and
> know him as a thorough gentleman. He is very amiable and is always willing
> to help others. I have great respect for him. Hence, I was surprised to see
> this mail.
> After I spoke to him, this is what I gather. The applicant accused one of
> Shaileshji's colleague saying ``you are corrupt.'' After having said so a
> couple of times, Shaileshji politely asked him not to make such
> accusations. Despite that, he continued to be spiteful. That's when
> Shaileshji said ``shut up.''
> I feel the applicant, Mr Mishra, must be surely distressed and it is
> admirable that he is taking up issues through RTI despite his seniority.
> However, the first rule while visiting the government office is to maintain
> decorum and show respect to the government officer. I know it is difficult
> sometimes to keep your cool in case the officer is really non-co-operative
> (which it was not in this case) but even then if the issue you have
> undertaken needs to be sorted out, it should done with calmness.
> Mr Mishra, I wish you all the best in your good work
> Cheers and warm rgds
> Vinita Deshmukh
> Editor, Life 365
> Consulting Editor, MoneyLife
> RTI columnist and activist