is rti useful in big corruption cases.

[jebamani mohanraj]

I am retired police officer, Inspector of police, i took vrs at the age of 45since i lost faith in policing.I was ith the Anti corruption bureau of the CBI Madras. i had my life time shock as inspector cbi/acb.i have trapped a person an asst railway station master for receving rs 5.at thr same time my information regarding a big corruption case that is a customs officer demandind a bribe of rs 3000 in the year 1986 and i wa snot allowed to catch the culprit instead the accused was given prior information. i can write a small book on ther functioning of cbi.i experienced the greatest shock while i was working in ther speccial investigation team of ther cbi whic investigated the rajiv gandhi assassination case i decided to call it a day and i took vrs after completing a painful 21 yrs of service.swince than i am fighting at top level and after tyhe introduction of Rti a i am very active. i shall share my exoeience in the days to come . jaihind. jebamani mohanraj

[jps50]

Sir, Welcome to this portal. One of the main purposes of RTI is containing corruption. U can effectively help reducing corruption through RTI by its constant use better than what U could have done by being in govt service. India wants citizens like U. Pl navigate this site and master RTI. In GUIDE section [right hand side top of this page] I have posted RTI rules of TN which apply to state govt offices as to format, filing fee amount and mode of paying the fee etc. For all other matter RTI Act 2005 will apply. All the best to U. Our 7000 members will be happy to support U in your noble endeavour.

[Satish Gupta]

Welcome MohanRaj ji:

it is great to hear from people like you who have sacrificed their career advancement rather then succumb to corruption.

Have you thought of writing about your life experiences as a police officer. It will make very interesting reading, I am sure.

[jebamani mohanraj]

I have filed six appeals before the tamil nadu information commission on 4 th april 2007. the commission is yet to fix a date for hearing.i have filed number of reminders also.The details of the matters are. 1.the telecom giants were allowed to cut the roads to lay their optic fibre cables no restitution charges were levied as the companies were expacted pay annual track rent to the government.(tamil nadu state govt.)the depts failed to give a reply.2 The overhead hanging cables are [posing danger to the public. i wanted to know the rules governing it. no reply received from the governemnt.3 i wanted to know the number of encounter deaths in the chennai city. the city police has given a erroneous figure. hence the appeal.4.three young engineers died during a rainy season while sitting inside a car. i wanted to know the result of the invetigation . no reply. hence the appeal.5.the traffic police are giving no objection certificates to various indiviudal cos to erect their advertise ment barricades in the centre of the road.i wanted to know the no. of nocs given by the police dept.( as a former police officer i know it involves big amount)no. reply from the police dept.hence the appeal.6.one young man dies because of unsafe roads. i wanted to know whethwr the culprit was punished. no reply from the police dept. hence the Aappeal.in all four matters pertaining to the chennai city police dept and two amatters related to tamil nadu govt are still pending with thwe tamil nadu information comission.. this is for favour of information jebamani mohanraj

[abhijeet]

Wecome MohanRajji.
We will be able to know many useful experiences received by you.
Mr Jps noted that RTI is a tool to reduce corruption, but it is my experience that the main job of th SPIO s of some Govt. Department is to help the corrupts and corruption by all means. And for doing that they are furnishing all sorts of 'misleading, incorrect information , as they don't have to bother anything. For example , I would like to mention that all the corrupt officers are very much united . Through RTI activities one enquiry was initiated , but suddenly it was stopped . The reason of which was mentioned as ' changed situation' . SPIO at least 6 times was glad to inform that as per records the enqury was stopped , because there was no need of continuing the enquiry. That's all. But why ? This news was repeatedly published in the News paper also--- but all in vain. There are plenty of bigger and more important news items- so this corruption could not be eliminated though some persons tried their level best. Corrupt persons are getting support from all corners of administration.

[maneesh]

Welcome to RTI India Mohanrajji,
I am sure with your experience you will be an asset to our community. We all can share and learn from your experiences.

[colnrkurup]

Welcome Mr.Mohanraj. Information sought by you in all the six cases referred to by you if provided defenitely is likely to expose coruption or maladministration. You have to use your ingenuity to break the barier. Seeking the assistance of the media to expose inaction of the SIC is one of the solution. Politicians can also help you if they wish. Good luck

[abhi987]

Welcome to RTI India Mohanrajji,

Thanks for sharing your experiences with us.

It will take another 20 /50 years to be where other developed countries have reached.

Any team is as good as its leader. Under the RTI Act, 2005 the leader of the state team is SIC (State Information Commisioner) who as per section 15(3) is appointed by:

(i) the Chief Minister, who shall be the Chairperson of the committee;
(ii) the Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly; and
(iii) a Cabinet Minister to be nominated by the Chief Minister

So two out of the three are CM's vote and anyways the third vote is also a politician.

[abhi987]

I feel you can try and use the provisions of section 25(1) alongwith section 25(3) and see if works to your advantage.

As per 25(1) SIC should at the "end of each year, prepare a report on the implementation of the provisions of this Act during that year and forward a copy thereof to the appropriate Government."

Couple that with the provisions of section 25(3)(c) which says "the number of appeals referred to the Central Information Commission or State Information Commission, as the case may be, for review, the nature of the appeals and the outcome of the appeals;"

You can try to lay your hands on this annual report and find out what SIC has stated about your queries in the report

[jebamani mohanraj]

Thank you abhi987.i will try as per your guidance.jebamani mohanraj

[jebamani mohanraj]

This is the copy of the petition submitted to the chief secretary ,TAMIL NADU...




To,
The CHIEF SECRETARY,
GOVERNMENT OF TAMIL NADU,
FORT.ST.GEORGE, Cennaai. 9

Sub : Immediate Action Required
Ref : TNJJP 1 / 2008, Dated: 25.06.2008

Respected Sir, Vanakkam.

I request your good offices to bestow serious attention to this
petition. I have collected some details using RTI Act and I am
shocked all is not well with the administration. The details I have
collected from various departments made me to write this petition. I
demand and expect swift action from your good offices. I have
given all the details with supporting papers .Please act on the
following matters on war footing.
1. CABLE TV WAR (1 to 4) IN THE ANNEXURE
The lucrative cable TV business which has already claimed lots of
lives due to professional rivalry is again in the news. The news
which is coming out from Madurai is really very disturbing. The
tussle between SCV and RCV is a clear reflection of a failed
administration. You can peruse the above referred papers and you
will know why this cable war is raging. The government is not
serious in stream lining the Cable TV business.
The Cable TV operators are collecting money from the public and pay
the required charges to the SCV. The SCV INSTEAD OF PAYING TAX TO
THE GOVERNMENT HAS OBTAINED A STAY FROM THE HIGHCOURT AND THE
GOVERNMENT WHICH RUNS THOUSANDS OF LIQUOR SHOPS TO MAKE MONEY
DESPITE THE FACT ONE IS TWO FAMILIES OR ORPHANED DAILY DUE TO
ALOCHOL USE, STILL SLEEPS WITHOUT GETTING THE STAY VACATED. It shows
virtually the administration does not have control over the matters
related to Cable TV business.

Please find the copy of the letter, reference Proc. No. acts cell
I/29580/07 dt.16/8/07 from the office of the commercial taxes dept,
Chennai 5.

a. It says that the SCV, Chennai 34 and the Gemini televisions
Chennai 34 have obtained a stay in Madras High court in WP 34166
&34167/03 and they have not paid a single paisa to the government as
tax.

b. The ref. further says that there are only 6,38,472 cable
connections and there are 3077 cable TV operators in the state.
Please find the news paper cutting ( sl no 5 in the annexure) which
says that there are about 80 lacs cable TV connections in the
state and they are paying about 50 crores to the SCV per month. Why
this huge anomaly. Why no effective steps were taken to ascertain
the correct number of cable tv connections and action taken to
recover the tax from the operators.

This is a clear case of massive corruption. I request you to order
vigilance enquiry or order appropriate action in order to know the
exact number of cable connection and the exact tax which has been
evaded. So that the government can collect the dues.

I would also like to know what action was taken to get the stay
vacated, so the government can collect the arrears from SCV

2. Not providing 2 Mbps Bandwidth to the government departments.
Refer G.O.Ms.10 / 2000 IT Department.

The private telecom providers have been awarded centralized
permission to the Public Right of way since 2000 (Sl no.6 in the
annexure).

The private telecom providers are to pay track rent to the
government as per GO Ms. 10 of the IT Dept . They are not paying
the tax to the government in accordance to the usage of the right of
way. No verification seems to be done. Huge revenue may by
outstanding. Please verify this factor. Instead fleecing the people
buy raising water charges and house tax try to collect the revenue
from the GIANT telecom companies.

The telecom providers were expected to provide 2 Mbps bandwidth
connection to all the government depts., Free of cost. Even after 7
years the connections are not provided. What a shame? Why the
government is so powerless to demand and implement the conditions
stipulated in the Go. Adding insult to injury the then central IT
minister had written to the Tamil Nadu Govt. that he will give RS
75 crores to provide internet facility to the various depts..
Instead of getting the bandwidth free from the telecom providers as
per the Go you are happily going to give money to the providers. Is
it not fraud on the tax paying public? Already the telecom
providers have damaged the roads by not adhering to the rules in
filling the dug up portions of the roads properly. The companies
not only damaged the roads , they punctured lot of telephone cables,
electricity cables ,metro water pipes and to cap it all caused death
to few people. Their act has already caused huge revenue loss to
the government which re laid the roads damaged by the telecom
companies. Order an enquiry to find out the extent of damage caused
by the Telecom Companies while laying optic fiber cables and take
suitable action.

I demand you to make the telecom providers to provide bandwidth to
the government departments immediately and collect the track rent
properly in accordance to the actual usage.

3. Corruption and the Government.

a. I asked the V&AC Dept to provide me certain details.(refer page
10 of the annexure. The V&AC refused to give the details . The Tamil
Information commission has directed me to approach the concerned
authorities (Refer Page 11 &11a of the annexure).

I request you to provide the details as requested by me in my
petition to the V&Ac dept and let me know the fate of the cases. I
would like to know whether any action was initiated on the matters
or are they still lying in cold storage.

b.The copara coconut (Dry cocoanut) (IN tamil KOPPARAI THENGAI)
cases in which huge corruption was alleged are pending with
government for sanction to prosecute the offenders.Like wise there
are number of cases are pending with the government for sanction.
(Refer page 12 & 12a of the annexure). This one is a sample. There
are so many cases pending with the govt for want of sanction. I
invite your kind attention to the cases investigated by the CBI
regarding the corruption in construction of the cremation sheds
under JRY Scheme. The crime nos. are RC23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30,
31and 42/97 of CBI madras ACB/CBI. The CBI might have toiled and
spent huge sum of tax payers money and man power in investigating
the cases. The government instead of giving permission to prosecute
the offenders simply denied permission to the CBI and killed the
cases.

I would like know why sanction was not given to the CBI cases and
why most of the cases which are investigated by the V&AC and other
agencies are kept pending with the government for years without
according permission.

One Minister resigned recently just for the crime of making a phone
call in support of an official who is facing vigilance enquiry. But
the Government simply refuses permission and allow the corrupt to go
Scot free in number of other cases. I do not understand the logic
behind this. Either accord permission to the cases pending with the
government or close down the vigilance arm of the Government.

4.Sand quarries of Mangalakurchi in Tuticorin District.

In my native village a sand quarry was allowed. The revenue earned
from the quarry was rs 1,89,76,500. (SEE page no 13 of the annexure).
The amount earned from the Mangalakurchi sand quarry is obviously
very meager. Just for the sake of this meager amount the government
will not defend the queries vociferously. There is definitely hidden
agenda begin government sand quarries at least Rs.200 crorers might
have been looted from the mangalakurchi sand quarry alone by the
unscrupulous SAND ROBBERES a detailed enquiry may please be ordered
to ascertain the quantum of Sand removed from the said quarry and
action taken against the offenders.

I and the whole administration knows the rules governing sand quary
were simply ignored and the precious sand which is the life line of
the river was scratched down to the last particle. The rivers are
bleeding to death.

I REQUEST YOUR GOOD SELF TO PAY A VISIT TO THE RAPED RIVERBED AND
SEE YOURSELF TO THE DAMAGE DONE TO THE RIVER. I PLEAD KNEEL AND PRAY
AT YOUR FEET TO MAKE THIS VISIT.YOU WILL SEE WHAT IS MEANT BY SAND
QUARRY AND WHAT REALLY IS HAPPENING. YOU WILL HAVE TO SAVE THE
RIVERS FROM FURTHER ASSAULT.

THE CM SAYS THE GOVERNEMNT WILL TAKE DRASTIC ACTION ON THE SAND
ROBERRERS(REFER PAGE 14) AND THE MINISTER SAYS SAND IS SOLD BY THE
GOVERNMENT If the minister is right why many revenue officials are
attacked and killed by the sand smugglers. If the CM is serious in
his announcement how many people have been detained under Goondas
act for sand theft. The administraton is very soft on the sand
theft. If the sand theft or the quarries are allowed to remove sand
at this speed the future generation will have no water and they will
be seeing the water and the river sand in museums only. ACT at
ONCE.SAVE THE REMAINING NATURE.

5.Water THEFT in River TAMIRABARANI.

I am a native of a tiny village, Kurangani, on the banks of river
Tamirabarani in Tuticorin District. My father late Thiyagi Nellai
jebamani was a freedom fighter,one time MLA from the sattan kulam
constituency had kept the river very close to his heart and nobody
dared to touch the natural wealth of the river. Now the river
stands raped by unscrupulous people and a corrupt officialdom .

Five sub surface wells were sunk on the river bed near our village.
I asked about the purpose of the wells.. The TWAD refused any
details. This happened in the year 2002. I courted arrest along with
my sister and my brother-in-law and we were in judicial custody for
five days IN THE YEAR 2002.

After my arrest the TWAD BOARD said they will be drawing 4000 Lpm(
litre per minute)water from the wells and the same will be supplied
to Tuticorin Port trust.refer page 23 of the annexure. The Tuticorin
port trust says that they are receiving 1736 Lpm .

Where the surplus water goes? Who are all the beneficiaries? Whether
any periodical Cheque was conducted to know the quantity of water
supply.
Order an enquiry and punish the culprits.

6. The water of river Tamirabarani used to be so sweet once. Now
people say that water has become saline. In the name of industrial
growth your government has killed a beautiful river. Ask your twad
board people or any appropriate authority to test the quality of
water and let me know the result. .
Alas. Once the river TAMIRABARANI was so beautiful with the silk
like sand and sweet water. Now it lies bruised and yearning for
life. Ironically the sand which was plundered from river
tamirabarani was sent to kerala which refuses to give water to
tmilnadu.order a probe to guage the damage done to the river. Please
be alert in the future and prevent further killing on the river.
Sir, If you Are, by any chance, born and brought up near a river you
will know the pain when you see river getting raped and slowly
killed.

7. TWAD BOARD'S FALSE REPORTS TO HARASS ME

I along with my sister and brother in law were arrested u/s 353,506
(1) ipc in ERAL P.S. crime no. 167/02. (refer page no 27 of the
annexure). When I asked the twad board authorities about the case
the gave a different reply. In their reply, (refer page no.26 of the
annexure), it is stated that I along with my sister and brother in
law came to the spot with sickles and sticks. Wrong. Terribly wrong.
My father is a well known Gandhian and I am having a party
registered under his name. I went to the spot and offered Gandhian
way of struggle. Go through the judgement carefully and see for
yourself. No materials were seized from the SOC. It is obvious that
the local Twad board authorities have filed a false report to the
government in order to arrest me and harass. The rest is history.
For three and half years we were shuttling between madras and
srivaigundam court. The Magistrate never applied his mind in the
case. He never bothered to secure the presence of the prosecution
witnesses 1 to 3 and dispensed them. I Demand that an amount of Rs.
50 lacs as compensation should be collected from the TWAD board and
given to me for having tarnished my image with the false report and
harassing me.

8. MINISTER ARCOT VEERASAMY'S BROTHER DEVARAJAN'S LAND GRAB CASE
Please refer page no. 22 of the annexure. It is obvious from the
reply that Devaraj and co., have falsified some documents and
enjoying occupation of government land illegally. The government is
reclaiming lands which were leased out to individuals and reclaiming
lands from various encroachers. But in this case the government
maintains deafening silence. Call for the records from the Chennai
corporation and take suitable action and reclaim the land. I have
already sent a telegram to your office on 22.04.2008. Get the stay
vacated in C.S.No. 418/2001 in the files of the Madras High Court on
war footing and reclaim the land and prosecute the land grabbers.

9. BOGUS VOTER CASES (PAGE 10 OF THE ANNEUXRE)
The state government has registered about 400 cases on the
directions of the ECI on individuals who tried to enroll bogus
voters . What is the stage of the case's. most of the accused
persons are sitting as MLA and Ministers there by mocking the very
basis of the democracy. Expedite the case and punish the guilty.

10.ACTION REQUESTED AGAINST DR. SUBRAMANIAN SWAMY.
Sri Swamy has stated in an interview to a Tamil magazine Kumdum
Reporter that he is having about 20 cds involving ministers of the
Tamil nadu government and the contents are much more serious than
the one which saw the exit of minister poongothai. Mr Swamy is
silent now. May be he is blackmailing the concerned Ministers. His
allegations are very serious in nature and if the allegations and
claims are true and disclosed the government will fall. Register
case against him and conduct enquiry. If he is with holding any such
cds take action against him.

11.THE THREE DAMS ISSUE. PLEASE REFER PAGE NO 19 TO 21.
I sent a petition to the President of India regarding the three dam
issue and the problems facing Tamil Nadu. I had expressed my grave
concern about the very Integrity of India which is threatened by the
dams issue. The finance minister of Tamilnadu while presenting the
budget in March 2008 in his speech has reflected my fears. There is
no point in keeping my petition to the President with Taminadu State
Government is of no use.
Instead of sending the petition to the central government the
President's office has sent the petition to the Tami Nadu state
govt. refer letter no 18894/misc/2007- 1, public (misc) dept, dated
8/6/07. The funniest part of this is the public dept sent this
matter to the PWD dept to solve the dam dispute. It is obvious from
all the communications that nobody is applying their mind into the
contents of the petition and mechanically pass on to some other
department. I request your good offices to sent the papers including
my petition to the central government and ask them solve the dams
issue.
11. Please refer page no 1 of the annexure. It is to remind you that
I can expect an acknowledgement from you within three days on
receipt of the petition and an reply with in two months.
In the service of this great nation

(J. MOHANRAJ

[jebamani mohanraj]

i have posted a an important matter. why it is not posted by the group

[dmanoj]

To answer you "is rti useful in big corruption cases". YES (PARTLY but encouraging for a 2 year old Act.) - Please allow me to answer from my experience of one such experience (I mean a small part of a HUGE CORRUPT DEPARTMENTS). As you are familiar in Tamil Nadu police has recently gained infamous reputation of misusing law to implicate/harasses innocent people.

I had to bring in unite like minded people to work on a single goal, it takes lot of effort and time. End result after alomost one year of efforts with help of a few dozen people we got the police department on check with a dozen police officials SUSPENDED on various ground. THE COMMON THREAD AMONG ALL THESE OFFICIALS BEING 'CORRUPTION'.
DITO was the experience to weed of a small part of Corruption in Judicary department too!

Looking at the letter sent to the chief secretary- that's a whole lot of stuff ( Your plate is actually loaded BUT do-able) what needs to be done is priority and bring in like minded people.
RTIindia.org is not the platform/forum for such activity. hopefully you may get some PM (personal message) with people of similiar intrest... All the best...

Cheers,
Manoj