--- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], "Krishnaraj Rao" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Dear RTI Users, Information Seekers and Fellow Citizens, Today's Mumbai Mirror has a news item on page 7. Please read it for its humour value. The joke is that after a non-violent dharna (sit-down strike) that we staged at Maharashtra State Information Commission on the night of 26th November (coincidentally the night the terror strike began), Chief SIC Dr Suresh Joshi says he feels threatened, and wants police protection. The bare facts of the incident are as follows: At 6.00 pm, the activists accompanied RTI applicant Rupchand Laungani to his meeting. To give the PIO (Additional Commissioner of Police, Bandra Division) one more chance to represent, Dr Joshi intended to call another 2nd appeal hearing. However, as the 2nd appeal had already been held on 15th September, the 65-year-old Mr Laungani strongly protested. Since many weeks, Dr Joshi had been promising to give the orders, and delaying , saying, "come tomorrow". So Mr Laungani was taken by surprise when Dr Joshi abruptly shifted his stand and said he wanted to hold another hearing! When the activists reasoned with him, Dr Suresh Joshi backtracked, and agreed to promptly handwrite his order before leaving for home. The impasse that followed was because the activists insisted that a Xerox copy of the handwritten order, whether rough or fair, must be provided the same evening. Dr Joshi was totally unwilling to reveal his handwritten order, and insisted on giving it typed the next morning. So we all decided to stay overnight at the Information commission until he gave us the order. (As it turned out later, the Chief SIC has passed a dubious and vague order... again, for the hundredth time.) Now read the news item in Mumbai Mirror: http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/2/20081204200812040342592194af80c0/Info-Commissioner-wants-protection-from-RTI-activists#cmt%23cmt If you feel we were wrong to act the way we did, please write me a stinker. However, if you feel that putting citizen pressure on Information Commissioners to make them accountable is necessary and justified, please write an appropriate comment to the editor of Mumbai Mirror at the link above. Warmly, Krish
