RTI helps Nazrul get his answer: Letter on ‘corrupt’ officials lost

Now his own Secretariat has lost a letter written to the CM detailing instances of corruption and malpractice by some of his top bureaucrats and police officers.

The complainant, Inspector General of Police (Enforcement) Nazrul Islam, discovered this after a prolonged but futile correspondence with the Home department, which is under the chief minister, followed by an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act when he got no reply.

Islam, who was shunted to the enforcement branch earlier for speaking out his mind on corruption in the government and the ruling party, had written to Bhattacharjee on May 23, 2006, just five days after the CM was sworn in, listing a series of charges against Chief Secretary Amit Kiran Deb, Vigilance Commissioner S K Datta and Inspector General of Police (Vigilance) M K Mukherjee.

On January 3, 2008, the West Bengal Information Commission pointed out to the Home Secretary that Islam had furnished a photocopy of the receipt issued by the CM’s Secretariat for his letter, and the department has to give its “views/comments/action taken”.

It gave the Home Secretary a fortnight to reply. “The commission will decide about the next course of action on receipt of your communication.”

Finally, the admission came from the Home Secretary, via a letter by Joint Secretary A G Ghosh: “No information could be furnished as the representation to the Chief Minister on whose basis it was sought could not be traced in the department.”

The Joint Secretary sought a copy of the letter from Islam.

The IGP told The Indian Express that he hadn’t yet decided whether he would write again to the CM. “Officially, I cannot comment,” he said. Islam also said he saw no point in writing again as over the past two years two of the officials — Datta and Mukherjee — had retired.

The chief secretary and the home secretary were not available for comment.

In his letter to Bhattacharjee — a copy of which is with The Indian Express — Islam said a section of the administration had instigated an official inquiry against him on the basis of an anonymous letter, simply because he had raised his voice against their corrupt practices.

Islam noted that Amit Kiran Deb, the the home secretary, had requisitioned for years hired vehicles from the police directorate for use by the Home department, in violation of government guidelines.

Islam wrote that, when he protested against this misuse, Deb became vindictive. Islam says he had also brought to the government’s notice the “corrupt/irregular/ immoral/illegal practices” of Vigilance Commissioner S K Datta and the anti-corruption Bureau of the Vigilance Commission. On May 5, 2006, the vigilance commission notified Islam that he was facing an open investigation. This prompted him to write to the Chief Minister later that month, listing his charges against Deb and the others.

When he did not get a reply for over a year, Islam submitted an RTI application to the state public information officer of the home department on June 4, 2007, seeking information about the action taken over his letter. The SPIO, in his letter 134-RT/1A-33/07, dated June 19, told him that the matter was being taken up with the CM’s secretariat.

But Islam did not get the information or even any rejection of his claim to information from the SPIO within the mandatory 30 days. He filed an appeal to the appellate authority and special secretary of the home department.

The appellate authority did not reply either or dispose of the matter within the mandatory 30 days and 45 days respectively, so Islam filed a second and final appeal before the West Bengal Information Commission on August 3, 2007.

The appellate authority, when prodded by the WBIC, replied on October 1, 2007, vide Memo No. 284-RT/1A-33/07 that they had been told by the CM’s secretariat that it had not received Islam’s letter in the first place.