Strange are the ways of the law keepers
By H.H. Mohrmen
The charges of corruption against the Chief Executive Member (CEM) of the Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council (JHADC) have brought to light the maladministration in this Autonomous District Council (ADC). RTI enquires have once again exposed the rot that is in the JHADC system. This is not the first time that the Council funds have been misused by the Members of the District Council who are supposed to make the best use of it for greater public good. But the question is what happens to the corruption charges against the Chief Executive Member (CEM) of the JHADC which was based on RTI findings? Will the police act on the first information report (FIR) lodged by the concerned parties? Or will this case also suffer the same fate and end up in the piles of files in the file racks of the JHADC.
If person steals bread from a bakery in Iawmusiang because he is hungry the police will immediately arrest him, but if people in power misappropriate huge sums of public money, the police will try to find ways to delay the matter knowing full well that public memory is very short and everybody will forget the crime and the case will gradually disappear from the public domain sooner than later. Last year this same CEM lodged a complaint with the Jowai Police Station against the leader of one NGO and the police acted promptly and arrested the person. An FIR lodged by the CEM is enough to arrest the person. But two FIRs with RTI report as evidence are not enough to arrest the CEM; there certainly is something fishy here.
The police claim that the matter is under investigation. Now what more does the police need than the evidence already submitted with the FIR? Are RTI reports not acceptable in the court of law? Moreover the officer in charge has taken the statements of all the 11 complainants on the day the FIR was lodged at the office of the OC, Jowai. Evidence available with the police which comprises of RTI reports which include copies of the cash book and the statement of the complainants are enough to prove that prima facie there is a case against the person. By not arresting the accused the police have provided him ample time and opportunity to manipulate the evidence because he is still the CEM of the JHADC.
It is now obvious that the police will use velvet gloves in dealing with this case and because it is a high profile case they will take their own sweet time to investigate it. This case has also exposed the true colours of some of the police when in a classic case similar to one we see only in the Bollywood movies, one of the complainants told this scribe that immediately after the FIR was lodged at the Jowai PS, she overheard one of the police officers calling the CEM to inform him of the development. So if you think that Bollywood movies are just a work of fiction think again because the police- politician nexus runs deep in the system.
It was evident enough right from the day the FIR was lodged that the police would try to protect their masters come what may. Before the officer in charge could instruct his subordinates to take the statement of the complainants, he called instead the RTI activist (who is not even party to the complaint) and asked her what was her motive to file the RTI that too in the presence of the media persons. What does that have to do with the case at hand? Her motive is to avail information and that’s it. What the police officer does not seems to understand is that it is the right of every citizen of the country to avail correct and true information by paying rupees ten as prescribed in the RTI Act of 2005. The Police should instead question the accused and thank the RTI activists for providing them with the evidence that will help them in the investigation, but again this happens across the country – RTI activists are targeted not only by those in the power but by those who are supposed to protect them.
There was a debate about the timing in which the RTI findings were shared. Some even suspected foul play. Skeptics rightfully questioned the timing but as far as one can gather the information(s) was collected with the sole intention of righting some wrongs. Hence the question why the RTIs were made public during election time is irrelevant. Few years ago there were public concerns about the RTI being used as a pre-election tool by vested political interests. A strong proponent of the RTI in the state, Michael Syiem was once quoted by the media that he was concerned about the misuse of the RTI. This fear is unfounded. RTI cannot be misused by any vested interest because all the information provided is true and people who are afraid of the truth are those who have something to hide. If a person is not indulging in any illegal activities then what is he afraid of? There is no such thing as misusing RTI. A person asking for information is only exercising his/her right and the objective of accessing such information is to expose the wrong-doings and punish those who are responsible for it. We should be more concerned with the information contained therein and find out ways on how we can rectify the wrong doings. And again what difference does it make if the information is shared now or later? Will the truth be different if it is shared now and not few months later?
The main objective of the RTI is to educate and empower citizens by providing information on how public money is used and thereby make them aware of what is going on in the government. An empowered and enlightened citizen will only help strengthen democracy. Hence RTI is the most powerful tool in the effort to empower the public. R. Lamarr a lecturer of Political Science at the Kiang Nangbah Government College, Jowai once said that RTI has empowered the citizen with the right that was formerly enjoyed only by the MLAs and that too if the question is raised on the floor of the house. Now anybody has the right to ask for information on any government project and schemes and if this is not empowerment then what is?
The case at hand is a classic one where government departments can choose to be the agents for accelerating the process of empowerment or to act as a stumbling block in the effort to strengthen democracy in the country. Democracy can work successfully only when people are empowered and know what is going on in the government. If the police in the West Jaintia hills refuse to arrest the accused then the police have only played in the hands of politicians. They are, in short, discouraging people from using RTI, and if police enforce the laws as they are expected to, then they become the agents of change and help in the process of empowering the people.
This entire episode reminds me of a relative who advises us ‘to never trust the people in Khaki’ and the way the police have handled this case has only reinforced that belief and that is very sad indeed. Police seem to be interested in serving their political masters only. They forget that the public are their real masters. Till the police treat the public at par with the politicians they will not get the confidence of the public. The police need to act immediately and show by their action that ‘everybody is equal in the eye of the law’ and that the law is not meant for the poor people only. Only then will the public have confidence on the police. They have a long way to go to achieve this very important goal.