NHRC
has recieved your complaint regarding siva iiango, president h.r.d.. The
Regn. No. is : 104/22/13/2015. You may use this regitration number for future
refernce.
Our
NGO TAHRIR’s appeal for urgent action in the arrest and subsequent remand
to judicial custody of a veteran RTI activist and HRD in Chennai Tamilnadu,
as sent to NHRC & others is copy-pasted below.
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Sanjay Sharma
<tahririndia@gmail.com>
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 Thu, Jan 8, 2015
at 11:17 PM
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To:
“HRD Focal Point in NHRC” <hrd-nhrc@nic.in>, cmsec@tn.gov.in,
cmcell@tn.gov.in, cs@tn.gov.in, dgp@tn.gov.in, shrc@tn.nic.in,
cop@vsnl.net
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Transparency,
Accountability & Human Rights Initiative for Revolution
Letter No. : TAHRIR/2014-15/150108-1
Date : 08-01-2015
Sir/Madam,
TAHRIR ( Transparency, Accountability & Human Rights initiative for
revolution ) is a Bareilly/Lucknow based Social Organization, working
at grass-root level by taking up & solving issues related to
strengthening transparency & accountability in public life and
protection of Human Rights in India.
We are now writing to express our grave concern over the arrest and
subsequent remand to judicial custody of a veteran RTI activist and
HRD in Chennai, Tamilnadu yesterday.
Source of Information on the Incident:
• Media Sources in the Hindu, the Deccan
Chronicle and Times of India
of 8th January 2014
• Telephonic information received from the
office of Satta Panchayat
personally by Henri Tiphagne at about 7.45 AM on 8th January 2015
About the Human Rights Defender under attack:
Mr. Siva Ilango is the President of SattaPanchayat, an organization
that works using the Right to Information Act in the Tamilnadu state
of India and takes up issues of corruption and the rights of people.
The Perpetrators:
1. The Chief Information Commissioner, Mr. K S
Sripathi and
Commissioner Mr. S F Akbar of the TN SIC for preferring a false
criminal complaint when they have so many motives against Mr. Siva
Ilango and his organization for the democratic protests that they have
been undertaking.
2. The Police of Teynampet Police station, the
Assistant Commissioner
of Police, the Deputy Commissioner of Police, the Joint Commissioner
of Police and the Commissioner of Police for not adhering to the
provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code in relation to Sec 41 A, B
&C .
3. The Jurisdictional Judicial Magistrate at Saidapet
who ordered
judicial remand of the accused in this case totally contrary to the
directions of the Supreme Court of India in ARNESH KUMAR Vs STATE OF
BIHAR & ANR. CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 1277 OF 2014. SPECIAL LEAVE PETITION
(CRL.) No.9127 of 2013)
Date and time of Incident:
7th January 2015 11 AM
Place of Incident:
Tamilnadu State Information Commission, Chennai
Incident:
Mr. Siva Ilango has been engaged in the extensive use of RTIs in
Tamilnadu as well as popularising the RTI and monitoring the effective
functioning of the State Information Commission in Tamilnadu.
Mr Siva Ilango had filed an RTI application to the appropriate
authorities on 22nd February 2014 asking them details of the State’s
total media advertising expenditure from 1991 to 2014. Since the
required information had not been provided to him, he had appealed to
the SIC and the SIC had posted the hearing of the appeal on the 7th of
January 2015. Mr. Siva Ilango came to the compound of the SIC at the
appointed time in his car and entered the compound to park the same.
There has always been an issue of the parking of private vehicles of
people who come to the SIC within the SIC compound which is large
enough and has space for such parking. There is also no space outside
the compound for such vehicles to be parked. The security police of
the SIC have in the past also punctured the tyres of the vehicle of
Mr. Siva Ilango and they have always asked the police to show under
what provisions of law parking inside the compound is prohibited when
it is not so with the other State Human Rights Institutions in
Chennai. Accordingly yesterday also the vehicle was parked inside and
it was also punctured by the police.
Mr. Siva Ilango went to the SIC ‘court hall’ and seated in his seat
till his case was called out. This was a second appeal after TN SIC
rejected his RTI application and first appeal. Chief Information
Commissioner Mr. K S Sripathi and Commissioner Mr. S F Akbar were in
the two member bench refused to accede to the request. They heard the
PIO in this case and then are said to have dismissed the appeal
without hearing the Appellant who had expressed his desire of being
heard. The Appellant, Mr. Siva Ilango had also wanted to argue the
second appeal being seated on his seat which was objected to by the
Bench. Mr. Siva Ilango cited that even before the Central Information
Commission Appellants were permitted to sit and argue since this was
not a court and asked the provision of law which demanded that the
Appellant should stand up and argue. He continued his peaceful
sit-in
protest at the State Information Commission court hall, protesting
Chief Information Commissioner K.S. Sripathi’s insistence to ‘stand’
during the hearing.
According to Mr Ganesh, the SPI Secretary who had accompanied Mr. Siva
Ilango, Mr.Sripathi refused to hear Mr Elango unless he stood up. “The
commissioner asked the public information officer whether the
information sought by the petitioner was provided or not. He dismissed
the case immediately after the PIO replied in the affirmative,” he
told this Petitioner. Protesting this, he said, Mr Elango insisted
that he be heard and again asked the commissioner to produce the order
that a petitioner should remain standing during the hearing. However,
he said when Mr Sripathi asked them to leave, Mr Elango refused to and
staged a sit-in.
Following his protest, Mr Sripathi then adjourned the hearings in the
hall and then moved to another room and the lights in the hall were
also switched off. The Teynampet Police were summoned and a complaint
preferred to them by the SIC as a result of which the Assistant
Commissioner of Police, Mr. Siva Baskar came and arrested the RTI
activist in Crime No 39/2015 of the E-3 Teynampet Police Station,
Chennai under Sec 294, 353 and 506 (1) of the IPC.
Mr. Siva Ilango was then remanded to judicial custody after being
produced before a Judicial Magistrate court at Saidapet. It is further
quite surprising that the Judicial Magistrate has mechanically
remanded the said ‘accused’ RTI activists and HRD , Mr. Siva Ilango
contrary to the recent Judgement of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India
that there cannot be any further mechanical remanding of any accused
persons in all criminal cases where the sentences are below 7
years.
Thus the Judicial Magistrate in this case has also further committed a
human rights violation by ordering the remand of an accused in a
case
where he should not have done so and is thereby also liable to be
proceeded against in this regard.
The organization SattaPanchayat has also in the past conducted several
democratic protests in the past for raising public attention to the
improper functioning of the SIC in the State of Tamilnadu and there
have been several preventive arrests of Mr. Siva Ilango and other
members of SattaPanchayat by the Teynampet police as was informed to
this Petitioner by the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Mr. Siva
Baskar.
Most public information officers (PIOs) in state government
departments refuse or delayed providing information to RTI applicants
and SattaPanchayat strongly feels that the TN SIC has failed to
implement the RTI Act even eight years after its enactment. RTI
applicants from other districts are disappointed , they state, because
of this attitude of the commission and SattaPanchayat has expressed
their feelings publicly in the past that an inactive commission was a
waste of tax payer's money. They have in the past also demanded the
removal of chief information commissioner K S Sripathi and
commissioners P Thamilselvan and S F Akbar and blew conches to awake
the sleeping commission which has done nothing for the RTI Act in the
state. A comparison with websites of information commissions in
Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and other states shows that TNSIC
has disclosed very little information, while its counterparts have
provided comprehensive data on annual reports, awareness programmes
and action taken against PIOs. The number of RTI appeals disposed
of
by the Tamil Nadu State Information Commission (TNSIC) has plunged by
more than 50%. Statistics from the commission's website
(www.tnsic.gov.in) show that the
number of appeals the commission
attended to decreased from 19,889 in 2013 to 8,121 till November 2014.
The commission receives an average of 60,000 RTI applications every
year. Though RTI Act permits each state 10 commissioners and a chief
of the panel, TNSIC has only four commissioners, Christopher Nelson, P
Thamilselvan, B Neelambikai, S F Akbar and chief commissioner K S
Sripathi. The Supreme Court had asked governments to identify
candidates for the post of information commissioner, with expertise in
fields mentioned in the RTI Act, which includes law, science and
technology, social service, management, journalism, mass media, and
administration and governance. Most appointments in TNSIC have been
political, activists say.
The government has tabled in the assembly only RTI annual reports till
2008. The commission's annual reports should declare the number of RTI
applications received by public information officers (PIOs) of
government departments, cases disposed of and fines imposed on PIOs by
the commission for violations under the RTI Act.
The Paris Principles are also not followed in all matters relating to
the SICs in the country when they are actually State Human Rights
Institutions [SHRIs] also and need to adhere by the Paris Principles.
Appeal:
We, therefore urge you to immediately take necessary steps to ensure
that the Hon’ble Commission
• Orders an immediate, thorough, transparent,
effective and impartial
investigation into the above-mentioned events that led to the arrest
and remand of the RTI activist. ;
• Uphold the rights of RTI activists who are
also human rights
defenders to associate, assembly, peacefully protest, criticise and
free expression – all of which were denied in this case in this
case
to the Human Rights Defender;
• Since this is a clear case where there has
been a clear motive
between the HRD, SattaPanchayat and the Tamilnadu State Information
Commission, to take up all pending the issues where the TN SIC is not
following the provisions of the RTI act and ensure that effective
steps are undertaken to undertake LokAdalats to dispose of pending
matters in the TN SIC in all the districts of the state and then to
ensure that the State Government is also made to make the necessary
appointments to the TN SIC following the provisions of the RTI and
the Paris Principles.
• To also ensure that all annual reports of the
TN SIC are made ready
and produced before the Tamilnadu State Legislature
• Along with government officials guarantee in
all circumstances due
compensation to the individual HRD in this case, Mr. Siva Ilango
for
the incarceration that he had to face in judicial custody and give an
undertaking to the NHRC of India in writing immediately and
urgently
that this has been duly carried out ;
• To ensure that the Judicial Magistrate
Saidapet is proceeded against
by the Madras High Court for not having followed the directions of the
Supreme Court of India as regards judicial remand of persons in such
cases and further get the Madras High Court to immediately issue a
circular to all Judicial Magistrates in the state to ensure that the
right to life of all people in Tamilnadu are not violated by the
Judicial Magistrates ordering the remand of such accused in such cases
where the maximum sentence is less than 7 years.
• Enquire whether the complete provisions of
arrest as mandated by
Sections 41 A,B,C and D of the amended Criminal Procedure Code are
being followed within the jurisdiction of the Chennai Commissionerate
and hold the Commissioner of Police, Chennai responsible for all the
non-compliance with these provisions by paying a compensation
personally of a sum that may be determined for all the violations that
have occurred since these provisions were brought into force on
1.11.2010 and to order that this compensation is paid individually by
the Commissioner of Police, Chennai since he is alone in overall
responsibility and for him to make the payment to the Tamilnadu
State Legal Services Authority ;
• That in this specific case the
concerned jurisdictional Deputy
Commissioner of Police ,Mr. Saravanan IPS, the Assistant Commissioner
of Police, Mr. Siva Baskar and the Inspector of Police Teynampet
Police station are made to all individually and collectively pay a
compensation to the concerned HRD, Mr. Siva Ilango for not
following
provisions of Sec 41 A & 41 C of the Cr.P.C.
• That the NHRC is made to undertake a special
training sessions for
all Chairpersons and Members of all the State Human Rights
Institutions in Tamilnadu such as the SHRC, the SCW, the Sic, the SCM
and the SCPCR with the full assistance and cooperation of competent
civil society organizations in the state such as People’s’ Watch and
the HRDA and report that this has been carried out to the NHRC within
a specific time frame.
• That the State Judicial Academy is made to
undertake a special
training on the rights of human rights defenders to all members of the
judiciary and to ensure that all judicial officers are made to adhere
strictly the law of arrest and judicial remand as directed by the
Criminal Procedure Code and the judgements of the Hon’ble SC.
• Along with local district officials puts an
end to all acts of
harassment against all RTI Activists and all human rights defenders in
general to ensure that in all circumstances they carry out their
activities without any hindrances;
• Conform with the provisions of the UN Declaration
on Human Rights
Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on
December 9, 1998, especially:
- Article 1, which states that “everyone has
the right, individually
and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the
protection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at
the national and international levels”
- Article 12.2, which provides that “"the
State shall take all
necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent
authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others,
against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure
adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a
consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred
to in the present Declaration”;
• More generally, ensure in all circumstances
the respect for human
rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with in accordance with
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and with international human
rights instruments ratified by India is strictly adhered to in the
state of Tamilnadu. .
Looking forward to your immediate action in this regard,
Sincerely yours,
Sanjay Sharma سنجے شرما संजय शर्मा
( Founder & Chairman - TAHRIR)
To,
Shri A. K. Parashar
National Focal Point - Human Rights Defenders & Joint Registrar
National Human Rights Commission
ManavAdhikarBhawan,
Block-C, GPO Complex, INA,
New Delhi – 110 023
Email: hrd-nhrc@nic.in
ThiruO.Panneerselvam
Hon'ble Chief Minister
Govt. of Tamil Nadu,
Chief Minister's Office Secretariat,
Chennai 600 009
Email: cmsec@tn.gov.in, cmcell@tn.gov.in
Thiru K. Gnanadesikan I.A.S.,
Chief Secretary to Government
Govt. of Tamil Nadu,
Secretariate,
Chennai 600 009
PBX No. 044-25665566
Email: cs@tn.gov.in
Thiru Ashok Kumar, IPS
Director General of Police,
Post Box No.601,
Dr.Radhakrishnan Salai,
Mylapore,
Chennai-600 004
Ph: 044- 28447777,2844775
Fax: 044-28447703
E.mail: dgp@tn.gov.in
Mrs. Justice T.Meenakumari,
Hon’ble Chairperson,
State Human Rights Commission
Thiruvarangam
143, P.S. Kumarasamy Raja Salai
(Greenways Road) Chennai 600 028, Tamilnadu.
Phone : 91-44-2495 1484
Fax : 91-44-2495 1486
E-mail : shrc@tn.nic.in
Mr. S. George,
Commissioner of Police
Greater Chennai Police,
No.132, Commissioner Office Building,
EVK Sampath Road,
Vepery,
Chennai – 600 007.
Ph: 044-25615048
Fax: 044-25615028 (Fax)
E.mail: cop@vsnl.net
--
Sanjay Sharma سنجے شرما संजय शर्मा
( Founder & Chairman)
Transparency, Accountability & Human Rights Initiative for Revolution
( TAHRIR )
101,Narain Tower,F Block, Rajajipuram
Lucknow,Uttar Pradesh-226017
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/sanjay.sharma.tahrir
Website :http://tahririndia.blogspot.in/
E-mail : tahririndia@gmail.com
Twitter Handle : @tahririndia
Mobile : 9369613513
TAHRIR ( Transparency, Accountability & Human Rights initiative
for
revolution ) is a Bareilly/Lucknow based Social Organization, working
at grass-root level by taking up & solving issues related to
strengthening transparency & accountability in public life and
protection of Human Rights in India. तहरीर (पारदर्शिता, जवाबदेही और
मानवाधिकार क्रांति के
लिए पहल ) भारत में लोक जीवन में पारदर्शिता
संवर्धन, जबाबदेही निर्धारण और
आमजन के
मानवाधिकारों के
संरक्षण के
हितार्थ जमीनी स्तर पर
कार्यशील संस्था है
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