Mumbai: Citizens' Group To Move Bombay HC Against BMC's Reinstatement Of Suspended Corrupt Officials

Mumbai: A citizens’ group has objected to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s reinstatement of 96 suspended staffers and asked the municipal commissioner to disclose the records pertaining to the reinstatement. The citizens’ group is also working on filing a public interest litigation against the reinstatement of staffers who have pending criminal cases and were earlier booked for corruption.

In September, the BMC reinstated 96 staffers who were suspended for criminal cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988. According to the information received under the Right To Information Act, 19 of these staffers have pending criminal cases against them while 77 were booked for corruption.

Petition Group, a citizens’ association working for transparency, accountability and good governance, wrote to the Municipal commissioner on Saturday to disclose the records pertaining to reinstatement of these staffers.

The group has requested the commissioner to disclose minutes of suspension review committee meeting, committee’s deliberations and decision-making process, documents relied upon by the committee to revoke suspension, preliminary inquiry records, prosecution sanction reports and other necessary data related to the disciplinary action against the reinstated staffers.

“Considering the widespread corruption within BMC, transparency in this matter is crucial. Disclosure of these records will help restore public confidence, which is presently at an all-time low. There is a general perception that the higher officers are lenient on the delinquent officers and that there is clear conflict of interest. It is settled law that departmental inquiries are independent of criminal trials, and the department has an obligation to conduct such inquiries and reach a logical conclusion,” said the letter written by G R Vora, trustee of Petition Group.

The Petition Group is also working on moving the Bombay High Court through a PIL against the reinstatement of these staffers. Clarence Pinto, one of the trustees of the group, said, “The battle against corruption we are fighting seems futile if such corrupt officials are reinstated after being suspended. For them, it becomes a paid holiday as everything turns normal after some time. The Madras High Court had said that corrupt officials should be declared as anti-nationals. We are preparing the ground to move to the high court against this reinstatement.”