Mumbai: RTI activists vs BMC row escalates

Hundreds of civic officials have been caught taking bribe to protect themselves from consequences of the Kamala Mills incident, allege activists. File Pic

After the Kamala Mills fire tragedy, civic chief Ajoy Mehta had ordered all ward officers to prepare lists of RTI activists regularly lodging complaints against illegal constructions in their respective areas. Eight months on, ward officers still haven't finished the task; ironically, the activists themselves have made a list of corrupt civic officials and sent it to Mehta and CM Devendra Fadnavis.

As per the statistics RTI activists received from the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), 21 civic staffers were arrested in 2016 for taking bribes, while the number of those booked stood at 26 last year. This year, so far, the ACB has trapped 20-odd civic officials.

Ajoy Mehta

A group of RTI activists had earlier moved the high court and filed a petition against Mehta; the court had asked Mehta to submit his reply. RTI activists have mentioned more than 100 civic officials in the list, a copy of which is with mid-day, caught by the ACB during Mehta's tenure.

"Mehta has hit a century... Instead of taking action on corrupt officials, he keeps cracking down on citizens and activists, who are exposing illegalities. Compared to previous commissioners' track record, graft cases have seen a steep rise during Mehta's tenure," said RTI activist Mohammed Imran Shaikh, who has also complained to Fadnavis about Mehta still being allowed to continue in the post.

'Misuse of power'
Experts said there is no provision under the MMC Act, 1888, empowering the municipal commissioner to direct his officials to prepare such "frivolous" lists of citizens, who are exercising their bona fide rights conferred under the RTI Act 2005.

"[The order Mehta gave] is a misuse of power and [his] official position. On the contrary, it's under his leadership that graft cases have risen," said advocate Vijay Shukla.

Around 70,000 notices have been issued online to various illegal constructions; while some were taken to court and disposed of, there has been no action yet from Mehta. In fact, he, ironically, again granted permissions to restart the terrace pubs at Kamala Mills.

Promoting corruption?
Activists have also alleged that Mehta issued a circular to stop citizens from complaining against illegal construction. "This is a violation of Article 51A of the Constitution of India," said activist Sanjay Singh, president of Lok Vasundhara Samiti.

Shaikh said, "Hundreds of civic officials have been caught red-handed taking bribe to protect themselves from the consequences of Kamala Mills incident. Instead of cracking the whip on them, innocent citizens and activists are being harassed. This proves that Mehta wants to promote corruption and suppress activists." Despite attempts, Mehta remained unavailable for comment.

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