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RTI helps expose poll official
Mumbai: On the face of it, this may be just another case of a citizen fighting against a corrupt official who tried to manipulate a local housing society election. But it once again shows the power of the Right to Information (RTI) Act which can serve as a boon for the civic and bureaucratic problems faced by the common man.
When an election officer appointed by the deputy co-operative registrar indulged in malpractices, an Andheri resident decided to use the RTI Act to expose him.
Chartered accountant B B Shetty, who stays at Oshiwara Shantivan Co-Operative Housing Society in Andheri (west), found that there had been mismanagement in the elections to the managing committee of their society last year. “I found out that two members who voted and contested for the elections were not members of the society. I complained to the deputy registrar of the society about this anomaly. I also found out that the election officer appointed by the cooperative registrar had colluded with the two tenants,’’ Shetty said.
Though Shetty initially complained to the deputy registrar of cooperatives, he did not take any action. “I then filed an application under the RTI Act to get the names of the actual members of the housing society. I got a reply from the Maharashtra Housing Area Development Authority (MHADA) that two members who had voted were not members of the housing society, but were in fact tenants,’’ Shetty said.
Meanwhile, Shetty also filed another RTI query as he found out that the election officer had taken excess fees from the tenants to add their names as members. “I filed another RTI query with the anticorruption bureau inquiring about a case filed against the election officer in the past. I got a reply that a bribery case was pending against the election officer P G Desai,’’ Shetty said.
Armed with these documents, he approached the deputy registrar of co-operative societies, Bandra. “Armed with documentary evidence, I asked them how they had appointed someone election officer when he had a case pending against him.’’
As a result of Shetty’s complaint, the election was dissolved and an order was passed by the deputy cooperative registrar appointing an administrator for the society. Shetty was also told informally by a senior official at the co-operative department that the tainted election officer has not been given any work now.
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