Inhumans Crush State Human Rights Commission
Human rights Yeah, right
HC hears PIL stating State Human Rights Commission had taken action in a mere eight cases until last year, despite receiving thousands of complaints
YOGESH SADHWANI ( Mumbai Mirror November 6, 2009 Pg 8)
The Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission (MSHRC) may be the last hope of getting justice for those who have endured violations by a public servant, but according to a recent PIL, the commission has done close to nothing in the nine years since its inception.
Until June 2008, the commission had received 28,083 complaints. Grossly failing to meet its objectives, however, it recommended action in a mere 39 of these complaints , and action was taken in only eight of these cases.
This is only one of the many shocking revelations that emerged Thursday, when the PIL filed by Dombivli-based businessman Pushkar Damle came up for hearing in the Bombay High Court before the Division Bench of Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar and Justice AM Khanvilkar.
With the help of a series of documents obtained under RTI from the commission, Damle has cited illegalities committed by and at the instance of the members and functionaries of MSHRC .
The PIL states, By their own admission as on 30/6/2008, the MSHRC received 28,083 complaints, of which only 39 complaints were recommended for action. In eight of these cases, some action was taken on erring public servants by the State, but in the remaining cases, no action was taken.
The members have not bothered on several occasions to even intimate complainants whose cases they are going to hear. The question that arises therefore is whether such hearings were conducted at all, or if this is a mere eyewash to misappropriate public funds and defraud taxpayers.
In July 2007, Damle was told that 325 cases were disposed in November 2006 by a member without any hearing. But when he filed another RTI query a year later, this number was reduced to 105. This, stated Damle, showed there was no transparency and accountability in the commission.
Stating that there were also financial irregularities , the PIL points out a case where a member claimed Rs 8,000 as conveyance for travel to Kolhapur and back. The reason given was that the member had visited Shirur Police Station, even though Shirur and Kolhapur are in two different directions.
In another case, a member travelled to Aurangabad to conduct hearings. The RTI reveals the member claimed conveyance of Rs 9,900 for hearings that did take place, but the complainants had no clue of them.
[What actually must have happened, he visited Aurangabad, met the police officers against whom complaints were received, extorted a bribe and closed the case. So the complainants were kept in dark ... I K Chhugani]Similar irregularities have been cited by Damle in medical bills claimed by members.
MSHRC MEMBER JUSTIFIES HIS STAND
A member of MSHRC, T Singaravel, who had intervened earlier, submitted an affidavit defending his side. But while doing so, Singaravel confirmed irregularities in the commission, strengthening Damles claim.
Singaravels affidavit states that he brought to the notice of the chairperson of the commission five cases of financial mismanagement in MSHRC . The misappropriation included hiring of a vehicle for five years from the same person without getting competitive bids. He also cited how a contract of Rs 7 lakh was awarded for developing software for cases registered with the commission for an unreasonable amount.
The affidavit adds that on his request, the government permitted special audit for 2001-07 , whereas a test audit for 2004-09 was done, suggesting nobody was interested in exposing the irregularities.
Singaravel has also claimed that he had no hand in any irregularity.
The State, MSHRC and Damle have been asked to file their reply in two weeks.
All our information is based on RTIs and we will do the needful within two weeks, said Damles advocate Amit Karkhanis.
When Mumbai Mirror contacted Mafiul Hussain, secretary of MSHRC, he said, I would have to look at the affidavit filed by our member and other documents before commenting on the issue...........................................................................................................................................................................................
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