Maharashtra, which witnessed the first ever murder of an activist who was using Right to Information (RTI) Act in India, Satish Shetty, also has the dubious distinction of being the state with the highest number of assault and murder of RTI activists. Since the implementation of RTI Act in 2005, the state witnessed 12 deaths and 24 assaults on activists. Last week once again witnessed the brutal murder of Bhupendra Vira, who was shot dead in Mumbai. A local politician and his son have been arrested.
It has been six years since the murder of Shetty, but the case is still carrying on at a snail’s pace. In fact, in most of the murders in Maharashtra, the culprits are roaming free. So, how long is this callous attitude towards whistle-blowers going to continue? As per the study by Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), murders of such whistleblowers are brazenly taking place in every state. It states, “Since the RTI Act came into force fully, at least 56 individuals are said to have paid the price of their lives for demanding transparency and accountability in government.”
“Media reports indicate at least 51 murders and 5 suicides that can be linked to the victims' use of RTI to seek information in public interest. Maharashtra tops this list with 10 alleged murders and at least two suicides (12 deaths) followed by Gujarat with eight alleged murders and one suicide (nine deaths), Uttar Pradesh with six alleged murders and one suicide ( seven deaths), Karnataka and Bihar (five alleged murders each), Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Tamil Nadu and Jharkhand (three alleged murders each), Madhya Pradesh, one alleged murder and one suicide (two deaths), Odisha (two murders) and Delhi and Rajasthan (one alleged murder each). Almost 17 of the RTI users attacked or harassed are women. One woman died while trying to save her RTI-activist father-in-law from a murderous attack in Haryana during this period.”
Venkatesh Nayak, RTI activist and programme co-ordinator of CHRI, says, “The RTI Act is not geared to make the life and limb of an RTI user secure, perhaps because the phenomenon of attacks was not foreseen at the time of its drafting. Several civil society actors have called for the urgent implementation of the
Whistleblowers Protection Act, 2011 (enacted in 2014) in order to protect RTI users who are attacked. With due respect to their views, I must say that this law is also not equipped to protect RTI users. Under the whistle blower protection law, a citizen will be treated as a whistle blower only if he or she makes a complaint to the competent authority such as the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), about a case of corruption or any offence committed by a public servant. In majority of the attacks, assaults or harassment occurred soon after the victim sought information in public interest, even before he or she obtained that information, let alone act on it. The obvious purpose of each attack is to discourage the victim from pursuing the RTI application to its logical conclusion. So in its present form, the Whistleblower Act cannot come to the rescue of RTI users.”
RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar provides a different perspective. He says, “Even if the investigations are going on at a slow pace, what has the government done about the crucial information sought by the RTI activist who was killed? Has the government pursued it and ensured that the information has been put in the public domain? It has not, thus leading to the suspicion that it is not condemning the alleged corrupt acts of the alleged culprits. Most of these murders pertain to land grab cases. The only consolation being that the Maharashtra government has begun uploading RTI applications, on the respective websites.”
The murder of Vira again brings to the fore, the aspect of providing security to activists who have been threatened. Kumbhar says, “More than providing security to a RTI activist which I understand is not possible, the biggest deterrent would be to upload all information sought by the victim in the public domain. Also, it would be beneficial if RTI activists themselves publicise information they have asked for and procured, by uploading it in blogs and social media.”
Nayak says, “Rather than create a new mechanism for protecting RTI users, the Information Commissions must be empowered to work in sync with other public authorities such as the police, the courts, the Human Rights Commissions, Vigilance Commissions or Lokayuktas to protect RTI users from harm at every stage. RTI users who are attacked for demanding transparency and accountability are indeed defenders of human rights. The State and its specialised agencies are duty bound to ensure the safety of every human rights defender. Wherever there are reports of the police foisting false cases on RTI users, such cases must be inquired into by independent agencies and the guilty officials must be proceeded against in accordance with the criminal law and the disciplinary rules applicable to them.”
Indeed, Vira paid a price for exposing illegal land grab by local politicians, much like Satish Shetty. Indeed a shame that such heinous crimes continue, unabated.
(Vinita Deshmukh is consulting editor of Moneylife, an RTI activist and convener of the Pune Metro Jagruti Abhiyaan. She is the recipient of prestigious awards like the Statesman Award for Rural Reporting which she won twice in 1998 and 2005 and the Chameli Devi Jain award for outstanding media person for her investigation series on Dow Chemicals. She co-authored the book “To The Last Bullet - The Inspiring Story of A Braveheart - Ashok Kamte” with Vinita Kamte and is the author of “The Mighty Fall”.)
But Arnab Goswami is a national treasure who must receive state protection.