Despite incriminating evidence procured through Section 4 of the RTI Act, proving fraudulent deletion of Sharad Phadke’s name from voters’ list in Pune, the police got a counter statement from Election Commission office while refusing to registering an FIR

Sharad Phadke and I,  who through inspection of files under Section 4 of the RTI Act, procured documents after spending two long days at the Tehsildar office in his Kasba constituency, revealing the fraudulent procedure adopted to delete his name from the voters’ list, decided to file a FIR for tampering with the voters’ list and illegally deleting his name.
 
We showed the documents to leading lawyer Aseem Sarode and noted RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar. Sarode stated that, “this case is a pointed one, directly showing the falsification of documents which is a criminal act and merits a FIR. It is a sample case of a possible mass fraud that led to deletion of thousands of names.’’ Kumbhar too mentioned that under the Representation of People’s Act, mischievous and fraudulent deletion of name from the voters’ list amounts to criminal offence and has rigorous punishment. In this case, the Collector, Election Officer and Block Officer are all directly responsible for this criminal act.
 


After three long hours of waiting, Senior Police Inspector Mr Sawant of the Vishrambag Wada Police Station, called us in and said that he will look into the matter as he had got a written statement from Vaishali Visal, the election office staffer, saying that she has followed the required procedure for deletion of Mr Phadke’s name. I snapped back saying, “how can you ask for a counter statement, with lodging Mr Phadke’s FIR?’’ He said. “just leave your complaint with me and we will do the needful after consulting with the senior. Such a complaint has to be addressed by the Election Commission and not by the police.”
 
So, how come, Mr Kirit Somayya’s police complaint regarding the same issue was filed at the Mulund Police Station under Section 120 B (for conspiracy?) just a while ago?’ To that Sawant asked us to go outside so that he could speak to his seniors.
 
After a few minutes, the havaldar came and asked Phadke to put a signature on his complaint, which we had drafted and brought a printout of it. Phadke insisted that he would like to lodge a FIR. So, again we went to Sawant’s office who mentioned that it would be lodged after further consultation with his seniors and he would ensure that the FIR copy is delivered to Mr Phadke’s house. As per law, the police is given 48 hours to lodge a FIR. Sarode has adviced that Phadke sends the complaint by registered post to Mr Sawant with a note saying that despite having come personally, FIR was not lodged. In the meanwhile we insisted that he gives us an acknowledgement on the copy of the complaint, which they did.
 
After that, I went to the Kothrud Election office where I had asked for details of three voters whose names were selectively deleted. Here too, the documents prove that no procedure was followed. More on this, tomorrow.
 


Details of Mr Phadke’s documents and procedure of deletion of names from the voters’ list can be read here: Pune voter list file inspection shows deletion is done fraudulently!

 

(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”.)