State information commission orders for details sought by Vera
Directives were given to Municipal Commissioner, BMC to review all the pending applications filed with various PIOs in BMC by Vera in the last one year and ensure that the information sought is put on the website of BMC before 31 st October,2016 without fail.
A day after the death of the RTI user and activist Bhupendra Vera, the state information commission directed all authorities to suo motu declare all details sought by Vera. The order was signed by the state chief information commissioner, Ratnakar Gaikwad after a complaint was filed with him by former central information commissioner, Shailesh Gandhi.Stating that Gandhi's complaint under Section 18 of RTI Act was accepted, the commission order stated, "It is extremely serious, sad and unfortunate that RTI Activists who play a very important role in ensuring effective implementation of RTI Act, have to face violence, intimidation and resistance from unscrupulous and corrupt elements in the society.""It is the duty of Government and Public Authorities to ensure full protection and safety of RTI Activists to support transparency and accountability in the working of public authorities. It is also necessary to put in public domain, information which Bhupendra Vira had sought during the last one year, forthwith by all Public Authorities in Mumbai especially Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)," it added.Directives were given to Municipal Commissioner, BMC to review all the pending applications filed with various PIOs in BMC by Vera in the last one year and ensure that the information sought is put on the website of BMC before 31 st October,2016 without fail. General Administration Department (GAD) of the government of Maharashtra was also asked to direct various public authorities other than BMC to "ensure that information sought is put on the website of Government before 31 st October,2016 without fail."While this order was passed, Mahiti Adhikar Manch, another NGO working towards RTI, demanded that, BMC and collector offices be directed to suo motu declare all land holdings and building plans, weekly updates by police in investigations of killing cases, and BMC giving reasons for their non-action against illegal construction among others. "Will separately take it up not linking to with the murder case," said Gaikwad.