A complaint has been filed today with the Chief Secretary of Goa against the selection of Prashant Prabhu Tendolkar for the post of Chief Information Commissioner and Juino de Souza as State Information Commissioner alleging that it was clearly contrary to the very provisions of the Right to Information Act.
Section 15(6) of the Right to Information Act mandates that the Chief Information Commissioner and the State Information Commissioner shall be persons not connected with any political party, but Prashant Prabhu Tendolkar and Juino de Souza are both very closely connected to the BJP. Section 15(5) of the Right to Information Act also mandates that the Chief Information Commissioner and the State Information Commissioner shall be persons of eminence in public life. Only a thorough Intelligence Bureau (IB) check on Prashant Prabhu Tendolkar and Juino de Souza will reveal the impediments to them occupying these high posts which mandatorily require eminence in public life which the two clearly do not possess. After the BJP came to power Prashant Prabhu Tendolkar an Advocate from Ponda was in September 2013 appointed as the Additional President of Goa Administrative Tribunal and retired in February this year on attaining the age of 60. The very fact that he was appointed to that post very close to his retirement age, was possibly a launching pad to get him later appointed as Chief Information Commissioner. There needs to be a probe into the huge assets acquired by Prashant Prabhu Tendolkar and his family over the last few years. Prashant Prabhu Tendolkar is also known to be a leading broker in mega land deals including the 5 crore property acquired at Darbhandora by Anand Wachasundar the accused in the infamous Louis Berger-JICA case. On the BJP coming to power its other Karyakarta Juino de Souza was accommodated as Member of the Executive Board of Goa University and also Member of the Executive Board of Institute Menezes Braganza while continuing to be very closely connected with the BJP. By an order 6th December 2006 the Bombay High Court at Goa had directed that Juino de Souza be assessed by a Psychiatrist and that by another order dated 20th December 2006 the High Court opined that he should continue visiting a Psychiatrist. The selection process of Prashant Prabhu Tendolkar for the post of Chief Information Commissioner and Juino de Souza as State Information Commissioners lacked transparency. It was very obviously a stage managed mere eyewash to accommodate them to these plump positions on account of their very close links with the BJP. As the Central Government and other State Governments have been conducting an IB check to ascertain the background of the persons selected for the posts of Information Commissioners, it is imperative that the Goa Government also follow suit so that unscrupulous persons do not end up occupying these crucial posts. Government should realize that these posts are important positions in the scheme of the RTI Act and not a mere Corporation where party workers and supporters are to be accommodated. To ensure proper implementation of the Right to Information Act, the State Information Commission should comprise of independent minded persons who do not succumb to the pulls and pressures of the politicians in power. Aires Rodrigues Advocate High Court C/G-2, Shopping Complex Ribandar Retreat, Ribandar – Goa – 403006 Mobile No: 9822684372 Office Tel No: (0832) 2444012 Email: airesrodrigu...@gmail.com Or airesrodrig...@yahoo.com You can also reach me on Facebook.com/ AiresRodrigues Twitter@rodrigues_aires