Can he weather the storm?

The appointment of Ratnakar Gaikwad as Chief Information Commissioner CIC of Maharashtra has invited the ire of many Right to Information RTI activists in Mumbai Gaikwad who was also the former Chief Secretary CS of Maharashtra was sworn in as the CIC of the state on June 6 2012 Since then many RTI activists have been asking for his removal from the post of CIC Maharashtra In a recent meeting between activists and Gaikwad at the state CICrsquos office at the New Administrative Building opposite Mantralaya RTI activists confronted Gaikwad with some serious questions which revolved around cases of impropriety in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority MMRDA when he was the Metropolitan Commissioner the Adarsh scam etcetera Krishnaraj Rao an RTI activist elaborated ldquoFirstly the Information Commission and the State Government should be ldquoat armslengthrdquo ie they must not have a very close relationship with the government Activists vs Gaikwad Ratnakar Gaikwad Chief Information Commissioner CIC of Maharashtra PicBipin Kokate By Ratnakar Gaikwadrsquos appointment the quasijudicial nature of the State Information Commission is severely compromised as Gaikwad was the former CS of Maharashtra as well as Metropolitan Commissioner of MMRDA Given the current bench assignments at the State Information Commission Ratnakar Gaikwad will hear cases relating to Mantralaya and MMRDA which he headed in the previous few years The cases of second appeal against these public authorities relating to his own tenure will be heard by him personally mdash again a violation of the principlemdash No man is permitted to be a judge in his own cause So the appellantsrsquo right to a fair hearing will be minimised and their Right to Information will be severely curtailed by thisrdquo Opposing RTI activist Krishnaraj Rao Vacant The activists also pointed out that the post of CIC had been vacant for the last 10 months GR Vora RTI activist said ldquoBeing a CS earlier he deliberately did not take any efforts to appoint a CIC For 10 months the Chief State Information Commissionerrsquos post was kept vacant by the Chief Minister CM and within five days of Gaikwadrsquos retirement as CS he was appointed as the CIC Maharashtrardquo Vora further added ldquoHe was amongst the top three persons in the Government of Maharashtra who were responsible for appointing someone as the Chief Information Commissioner He appears to have used that position in his own favour to make himself the CICrdquo Transparency GR Vora makes a point Adarsh There is contention over Gaikwadrsquos role in issuing an Occupation Certificate OC for Adarsh While Gaikwad initially issued an OC for Adarsh later it was withdrawn Said Rao ldquoRatnakar Gaikwad was chief of MMRDA which is the overall planning authority for Mumbai Metropolitan Region It was his job to look at the securitythreat angle in the case of Adarsh before giving the OC Adarsh is a 31storey building in Colaba that offers a strategic view of Naval Defence Installations Bombay Harbour and many key parts of South Mumbai As a civilian building it would be easy for terrorists to severely damage the Western Naval Command from such a vantage point Despite these security risks being repeatedly pointed out to Gaikwad he brushed them aside and hurriedly gave the OC This indicates terribly bad judgment on the part of Ratnakar Gaikwadrdquo Apart from these issues the activists believe that Gaikwadrsquos appointment as the CIC of Maharashtra was not transparent ldquoNo advertisements were given out in print and electronic media to inform citizens that the CIC39s post in the state is vacant and that applications are invited for the postrdquo said Vora Action The next course of action is to file a Public Interest Litigation PIL Said Sulaiman Bhimani RTI activist ldquoWe will first file a PIL in the High Court or the Supreme Courtrdquo Vora further added ldquoWe are in consultation with eminent and publicspirited lawyers who would take up this PILrdquo Activists in the PIL will seek the following ldquoGaikwadrsquos undue appointment should be scrapped the CM and others responsible for this malafide selection should be reprimanded Safeguards should be prescribed for all State Governments so that such unhealthy selections do not happen in future The recent appointment of some Tamil Nadu Information Commissioners was scrapped by the Madras High Court and the matter is currently before the Supreme Court SC The SC is now examining how selection of Information Commissioners is done as per the whims and fancies of the political setup that is in power mdash and hence there is a hope for a favourable verdict On another parallel track we will initiate criminal proceedings against Ratnakar Gaikwad by taking up cases of corruption dereliction of duty and decisions taken against public interest in favour of builders etcrdquo explained Rao Chance A few RTI activists however believe that Gaikwad at least deserves a chance as the CIC of Maharashtra Bhaskar Prabhu Convenor Mahiti Adhikar Manch and Maharashtra RTI Council said ldquoIn a meeting with Gaikwad on June 8 and 11 we shared with him how Shailesh Gandhi as the Central Information Commissioner has been expeditiously disposing off appeal cases and issuing orders in most of the cases within five minutes after the appeal hearing Gaikwad assured us that he would visit New Delhi to develop a better understanding of the process so that he could implement it in Maharashtra He agreed to have best practices in place to reduce the pendency of appeals and complaints Hence we believe that at least he is willing to work and bring changes in the systemrdquo According to media reports around 30000 cases are pending before the State Information Commission Prabhu also believes that Gaikwad will be able to deliver as the CIC of Maharashtra because ldquoHe is aware of various laws and their proceedings He will be able to network with all departments concerned and effectively implement the rules He has also assured us that he will increase the level of awareness about the RTI Act amongst Public Information Officers PIOrdquo The other side In a telephonic interview Ratnakar Gaikwad Maharashtra39s CIC claimed that the allegations made by the RTI activists are baseless Gaikwad said quotIt is an attempt to malign me Those opposing my appointment have resorted to nitpicking First they said that I had deliberately kept the post of CIC in the state vacant for 10 months Now one must realise that there are so many posts within the government that are vacant Why are they not bothered about those Secondly they have pointed put that I will be inefficient as a CIC of the state because of my association with the Mantralaya and MMRDA This is an absolutely ridiculous argument As a CIC of the state my duty will be to oversee that the RTI Act is implemented all over the state It is more than just presiding over matters related to the MMRDA or Mantralaya Moreover there is an appellate authority and the CIC Mumbai They are the ones who will deal with appeals first As far as my involvement with Adarsh is concerned activists have said that I have ignored objections raised by Western Naval CommandinginChief about national security issues gone ahead and issued an OC for Adarsh I would like to clarify that security in a civilian area does not come under the Naval body It comes under the Commissioner of Police In fact I have said the same to the Naval body too I can39t hold the OC of a building which is ready because some agency insists on seeing the list of occupants of the building But later we withdrew the OC This was when the State Government told the MMRDA that the Ministry of Environment had an objection about the building If the State Government directs us then we will have to abide by itrdquo Duties w Maharashtra Chief Information Commissioner is the head of Maharashtra State Information Commission which hears second appeals of RTI against the State Government w Firstly as chief in his administrative capacity he oversees the overall health of the Commission through budget and manpower allocations w Secondly he has a supervisory and advisory role to push for better compliance with RTI39s section 4 suomoto disclosures and proper appointment of Public Information Officers first appellate authorities etc by all public authorities of the State Government from village panchayats municipal wards and Staterun organisations like BEST and MMRDA right up to the top levels of Mantralaya such as CS39s office and CM39s Office w Finally in his direct capacity as an Information Commissioner he hears second appeals arising from RTI applications against MMRDA Mantralaya CM39s Office and passes ordersu00a0