Ex-BJP chief minister: Why is Gujarat govt afraid of releasing findings of inquiry into corruption under Modi?

Suresh Mehta

By Our Representative
Amidst fresh charges of misappropriation flying high against Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel over giving away land off Gir lions sanctuary in Junagarh at throw away price to partners of her daughter, Gujarat's civil society groups have put up a strong demand to make public findings of the MB Shah Commission, set up in 2011 to investigate into allegations of 14 corruption cases involving state government officials and ministers.
The decision to set up the Commission was taken by the then chief minister Narendra Modi following a Gujarat Congress representation to the President of India to inquire into allocation of land at a highly subsidized rate to industrial groups such as Adanis, Essar and Tata, apart from several scams related animal fodder, supply of fortified flour to anganwadis, oil-and-gas exploration by the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation, and construction of Sujalam Sufalam recharge canal in North Gujarat.
The MB Shah Commission handed over its Interim Report to the state government on September 27, 2012, and final report on November 6, 2013. The only official statement so far on the findings of the report is by Cabinet spokesperson Jaynarayan Vyas, who said on September 27, 2012 – the day electoral code of conduct came into force for the assembly polls of December 2012 – that the Commission had given “clean chit to the Modi government."
Addressing media on Tuesday, former BJP chief minister Suresh Mehta, who backed the civil society groups’ demand, said, even today “nobody knows whether final report of the MB Shah Commission has been placed before the Gujarat Cabinet.”

Others who addressed the media to demand release of the report included Gautam Thaker, General Secretary, Citizens for Democracy; Prakash Shah, President, People’s Union for Civil Liberties, Gujarat; Mahesh Pandya of Gujarat Social Watch; and Hemantkumar Shah, who teaches economics in a Gujarat University-affiliated college.
Media persons were informed, several Right to Information (RTI) pleas for making the report public were rejected on the ground that, under the Commission of Inquiries Act, it should first be placed in the state assembly after being approved by the Cabinet.

While the state government maintained that the report was “lying with the Raj Bhawan”, one reason why it was not being made public, in reply to a RTI plea, the Raj Bhawan said, the report is not with the Governor, but with the General Administrative Department of the state government.
“We don’t even today know where the report is”, Mehta said, adding, “This is not the only report which the state government is refusing to make public. There are in all five inquiry commission reports, lying idle with the state government, one of them being the final report of the Nanavati-Shah Commission, set up in 2002 to inquire into the Gujarat riots.”
Answering a query on what purpose it would serve to make public the report as it is unofficially learnt there is “there is nothing in it", Mehta said, “The MB Shah Commission cannot hope to give clean chit to the state government on handing over cheap land to industrial houses, because everything is on record. Similarly, facts on Sujalam Sufalam recharge canal scam are on record.” Added Pandya, “Shockingly,the Congress, too, is refusing to make it an issue.”

Comments

Call to support IIM-Bangalore professor, censured for seeking action against Uniliver

Counterview Desk
Sections of the Indian Institute of Managements (IIMs) across India have strongly reacted to the decision to censure Dr Deepak Malghan, a faulty at IIM-Bangalore. Prabhir Vishnu Poruthiyil, who is faculty at IIM-Tiruchirapalli, has sought wider solidarity with Dr Malghan, saying, "The administration has censured Deepak for merely suggesting a meaningful action against Hindustan Unilever for their abysmal environmental record" by “disinviting” it for campus placement.

Actionable programme for 2019 polls amidst lynch mobs, caste violence, hate mongering

Counterview Desk
Reclaiming the Republic, a civil rights network, has released a document prepared under the chairmanship of Justice AP Shah (retired) -- and backed, among others, by Supreme Court advocate Prashant Bhushan, bureaucrat-turned-human rights activist Harsh Mander, economist Prabhat Patnaik, Right to transparency activist Anjali Bhardwaj and social scientist Yogendra Yadav (click HERE for full list) -- with the "aim" of putting forth policy and legislative reforms needed to “protect” and “strengthen” the Constitutional safeguards for India’s democratic polity.

Noam Chomsky, top scholars ask NRIs to take stand on human rights violations in India

Counterview Desk
Renowned world scholars, including Noam Chomsky, James Petras, Angela Davis, Fredric Jameson, Bruno Latour, Ilan Pappe, Judith Butler, among others, have issued a statement castigating the Narendra Modi government for allegedly creating an environment of fear through arrests, intimidation and violence.

India under Modi "promoted" crony business, protected financial fraudsters, fueled bigotry

By Sandeep* and Rahul Pandey**
Narendra Modi's ascension to power was accompanied with jubilation and expectation. His supporters were expecting an end to era of corruption and initiation of good governance which was described as Achche Din. His party's adherence to idea of nationalism was believed to make India a vibrant country and guide India to be a world leader. He gave the slogan of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' conveying that his government was for all.
Corruption The government system is infested with corruption. A minimum of 10% is siphoned off from government schemes and projects, some of which goes back to political party in power and remaining is pocketed by various administrative, executive and political functionaries. This corruption continues and has increased. Now an additional Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) person working as Official on Special Duty or some equivalent position in every government department also has a share in this booty.
The Narendra M…

Inviting Rajapaksa to India "insult" to 1,40,000 Tamils killed by Sri Lankan army

Counterview Desk
In the context of Sri Lankan opposition leader Mahinda Rajapaksa being invited in India, about 75 human rights activists*, claiming to be concerned about rights violations during the civil war in Sri Lanka, especially in 2009, have joined together to express their dissent through a statement.

A Godse legacy? BJP rulers have "refrained" from calling Gandhi Father of the Nation

By Dr Hari Desai*
What an agony! On one hand, the entire India is celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but on the other side, so-called Hindu Mahasabha members have been found mock-enacting the killing of the Mahatma and celebrating the murder by distributing sweets!

No aadhaar, no ration? Hard blow by Gujarat govt on poor and marginalized

By Pankti Jog*
Only those who have aadhaar registration and linked it with ration card will get ration from a Public Distribution System (PDS) shop. This decision of the Gujarat government has hit very badly thousands of poor and marginalized communities of Gujarat, especially during the drought year.

Not just Indian women engineers, men too face sexual harassment at workplace: US study

By Rajiv Shah
A recent research, carried out jointly by two US-based non-profit organizations, Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and Center for WorkLife Law (WLL), based at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, has found that 45% of women engineers as against 28% of men engineers complained that it was perceived as “inappropriate when women argued at work, even when it was work-related.”

Post-advisory, Govt of India appears reluctant to ban e-cigarettes, "harmful" to kids

By Rajiv Shah
Is the Government of India dilly-dallying over the issue of banning e-cigarettes, which have been declared by anti-tobacco activists across the world as providing “an entryway to nicotine addiction”, especially among the kids? It would seem so, if the latest developments are any guide.

Poser to Modi: Why is Gujarat not fulfilling Constitutional obligations to minorities?

Counterview Desk
In an open letter, Mujahid Nafees, convener, Minority Coordination Committee (MCC), a Gujarat-based civil rights organization, has accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi on infringing upon MCC activists’ constitutional right to protest. Nafees says, they had no other demands except that the Gujarat government should move towards fulfilling the constitutional obligations towards minorities and international treaties to which India is a signatory.

Search This Blog