Friends,
A real life story fron Arvind Kejriwal is reproduced below.
Dhirendra Krishna
" I was arrested and subsequently released by NOIDA police on Saturday. The whole incident was quite bizarre. We had gathered outside Registrar's office in Noida to protest against corruption in that office. Gaurav Bakshi, an NRI had been asked for a bribe in this office about two months back for some work. He refused to pay the bribe and recorded a video of the babus demanding bribe. This enraged the babus. They assaulted him and his father (a retired IAF officer) and their camera was snatched away. Someone present there clicked the pictures of assault. Gaurav filed a police complaint with those pictures (culprits are easily identifiable in those pictures). Gaurav was offered Rs 8000 by the NOIDA police who tried to persuade him not to file a police complaint. However, he persisted. Two months after the complaint was filed, the NOIDA police did not take any action.
Rather than give up, Gaurav collected all his friends and decided to protest. On Saturday, less than 50 people gathered outside Registrar's office on the main road. All of us were shouting innocuous slogans – "Choosna band karo, rishwat lena band karo", etc. We decided to take a round of the parking area and encourage people to stand up against corruption. However, the police stopped us. So, we stayed on the side of the main road. All of us demanded to know from the police, why were they shielding the corrupt, why they had not taken any action against corrupt people on Gaurav's complaint? SHO present on the spot refused to reply.
At that time, one person came out of Registrar's office and said that he a bribe of Rs 100 had demanded from him. Everyone asked the police officers present on the spot to immediately arrest the staff who had demanded the bribe. But the police did not budge.
Suddenly, one of their senior police officers came, and without any provocation, on his orders, the police started assaulting people. We were slapped, thrashed and assaulted with batons. Gaurav was beaten up and put into a police van. Eight of us were "detained". We were taken to a few police stations for the next few hours without being told why we were being transported around before we were finally presented before the city magistrate. At this point, we realised we had actually been "arrested".
The city magistrate arrived and screamed at the police officer – "Muzrimon ko hathkadi kyon nahin daali?" Police officer replied – "Baahar bahut media wale khade hain." The magistrate informed us that we had been arrested for violating public peace, for interfering with the work of government officials and for creating a ruckus inside government building. We protested that we never entered any government building and we never met any government officer. The magistrate replied that it was for the police to investigate the allegations and the court would take a final decision. Some non-bailable sections were slapped against us. He ordered our arrest. We were bundled up in police vans and were sent to Dasna jail.
Midway, the police vans stopped. We were told that the vans had been asked to come back. "You will be released on bail," one of the police officers told us, who was taking instructions on phone from his bosses. We said we will not apply for bail as we had not committed any crime. The policeman, perplexed, informed his seniors that these people don't want bail. He was directed to still bring us back whether we wanted bail or not.
Back in magistrate's office, we were released without bail.
We learnt that the police did not know about our backgrounds when they arrested us. Once arrested, there was flood of enquiries from media and eminent citizens. And so, we were being released.
Isn't it completely bizarre? Either we had done a crime or we had not! How could we be treated as hardened criminals just a few hours back, so much so that the magistrate had to order our handcuffing? And how could we be suddenly released and all charges against us dropped when they come to know who we were?
This means that the police can practically arrest anyone and slap any IPC section against him. The magistrate will blindly endorse arrest saying that the charges will be investigated later. How scary is that?
The magistrate met us after our release in his chamber. He warned us not to disrupt public peace in future. We told him in all humility – "We had not disrupted the peace of the public but had actually disrupted the peace of corrupt people and we will continue to do that even after our release. Don't you find it strange that the police did not arrest those who had demanded bribe from Gaurav and those who had assaulted Gaurav and his father till now but we, who were fighting against corruption were arrested and produced before you immediately?" We politely told the magistrate that we will continue with our activities even after release. Still he released us.
Who do we blame for this incident? In my opinion, it is the system that is at fault. The system places so much power in the hands of a few individuals that they simply go mad with arrogance. They lick their seniors and kick the public and they are accountable to none. I wonder whether it was any different during the British times?
Many people say that we have sufficient laws in our country, just that they are not implemented properly. I completely disagree with them. I have studied many of the laws very carefully. We are still being governed by the same colonial laws which existed in British times. They have not been changed. Many of these laws need to be changed.
Economic growth and `future superpower' status is all very good but that doesn't guarantee dignity for every individual. We need new and contemporary laws for a new India and to push for these, a citizens' movement has been initiated."
--- In rti4empowerment@yahoogroups.com, "Dhirendra Krishna" <dhirendra.krishna@...> wrote:
>
>
> Friends,
>
> This is a case where a senior police officer, Shri Amitabh Thakur, is viewing police from the perspective of a citizen victimized by police. Perhaps, sitting in the ivory tower of their offices, senior officers (whether in police, administration or audit) either do not see the negative side of their organisation or prefer to turn nelsons eye towards it; preffering to defend it instead of curing the ills.
>
> False cases initiated by police are rampant. Look at the success rate of prosecution launched by police.Look at the judicial delays, arising from insufficient or inadequate evidence gathered by investigating agencies, where innocent persons are branded as criminals for prolonged periods. Anti-corruption cases are often ar a result of internal politics where some has is "framed" to settle personal scores. Investigating agencies are usually unable to understand these nuances.
>
> There are no penal consequences for police officer who initiates such bogus cases. There is need for very serious introspection.
>
> Dhirendra Krishna IA&AS (Retired)
>
>
> --- In rti4empowerment@yahoogroups.com, Amitabh Thakur <amitabhth@> wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> > Hang Mr Viresh!
> >
> >
> > I present a live example of how a person can get branded
> > as being “tainted†despite a possibility of his being innocent. The case
> > relates to Mr Viresh Kumar Singh, an IIT Kanpur Alumnus of 1988 batch, who like
> > many of his friends tried the Civil Services Exams, somehow could not get
> > through it and finally found himself in State service as District Audit
> > Officer.
> >
> >
> > As the Finance Officer of the Garhwal University, Mr
> > Singh got arrested by the Uttaranchal Vigilance Establishment for demanding Rs.
> > 15,000 and finally taking Rs. 5000 from a contractor whose bill of Rs. 20,000 was
> > to be sanctioned by Sri Singh. This happened in 2007, he spent 28 days in
> > prison, a Charge sheet has already been filed against him in the Court and he
> > is under suspension for the last four years.
> >
> >
> > Yet when Sri Viresh Singh paid a casual visit to me
> > yesterday and we had a long chat over his problem, where he showed me a lot of
> > legal and official documents, somehow I was forced to accept once more that
> > truth is not always as simple as it apparently looks.
> >
> >
> > Though the Vigilance FIR says that Sri Singh got arrested
> > while taking money in his office, as per his version what had happened was that
> > the contractor had come to his office after getting the check sanctioned and
> > had placed some money on his table. Mr Singh had immediately asked the contractor
> > to take back the money, which he complied as the Registrar of the University,
> > who was himself a relative of the contractor and was luckily present there,
> > directed the contractor to comply with Mr Singh’s word.
> >
> > Mr Singh told me that
> > when he came out of his office and reached his car, the same contractor came to
> > him again, suddenly took some money and almost thrust it in his pocket. Taken
> > unaware, Mr Singh took the money from his pocket but by that time, Vigilance
> > team was around. Since all the scientific evidence was against Mr Singh, he was
> > under arrest and was sent to jail.
> >
> >
> > The version of the Vigilance Department that Mr Singh was
> > arrested from his office must be correct and will be treated so, as long as the
> > final decision is not delivered by the designated Court, but Mr Singh did show
> > me a letter that the same Registrar had written to the VC of the University
> > where he had narrated facts almost in the same manner as Mr Singh had told me.
>
> Thus
> > a possibility remains that the Registrar, despite being at loggerheads with Mr
> > Singh among other reasons because Mr Singh had previously rejected his relative
> > contractor’s big proposals, yet wrote something that favoured him, because it
> > was the voice of his conscience. Another fact that Mr Singh showed me was that
> > the two University staff, shown by the Vigilance team, to be present on the
> > spot, later gave Affidavits denying the incidence.
> >
> >
> > Since the case in under trail, hence commenting upon it
> > would be completely unwarranted. Similarly, forming a final opinion would be
> > equally injurious on my part. My purpose of writing his incidence is not to
> > narrate Mr Singh’s case or to defend him as such but to raise a few fundamental
> > issues through it-
> >
> > 1.    Â
> > Is it always that whatever we hear or see apparently or
> > though media is correct? Sri Singh must have been condemned as being an
> > accused, but what if the letter of the Registrar is true? Thus, my personal
> > opinion is that we, as human beings, shall always be conscious of the fact that
> > there can be unraveled truth in every story
> >
> > 2.    Â
> > Before condemning a person in our Mind’s court, would it
> > not be proper to go a bit deeper in the concerned matter? If that is not
> > possible, due to our limited resources and circumstances, does it not befit us
> > that we avoid any final opinion?
> >
> > 3.    Â
> > These days we are passing through a very strong wave of
> > Anti-corruption mood. We all want corruption to get eliminated from our
> > country. It must be so, but should this mean that we get lured towards any such
> > Act or laws which is unidirectional and starts with pre-conceived notions?
> > Would anyone of us relish it if there was some innocent Mr Viresh who got
> > hanged because the Act seems to perceive things with a particular slant?
> >
> > 4.    Â
> > If we suppose for a moment that Mr Singh’s version is
> > correct, is it then not a lesson for us all that we shall not only be honest
> > but shall also be very conscious and alert about this? This is because many of
> > the honest people have such enemies lurching around who might take an extra
> > mile to get such person implicated through fast and cunning measures. How one
> > can do it is for every such person to decide. But proper precaution and
> > alertness to such circumstances seems to be more important for those who are
> > honest and law-abiding.
> >
> >
> > This is an issue that
> > possibly concerns all and hence I take the liberty of presenting it before this
> > august group
> >
> >
> > Amitabh,
> >
> > President, NRF/
> >
> > President, IRDS,
> >
> > # 94155-34526
> >
>
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