Corrupt cop lands in sting plot

Vijaita Singh, Hindustan Times, New Delhi, April 25, 2009

Sting for justice. That seems to be the message for people being harassed by corrupt policemen. Hidden cameras, as discovered by PN Sharma, are a potent weapon to bring corrupt cops to book.

And it was the Delhi Government’s anti-corruption branch (ACB) that advised Sharma — a Dwarka resident conned by a property dealer — to film a policeman asking for bribe to arrest the accused.

The ACB has encouraged several complainants in the past to take the help of secret camera to nail corrupt policemen.

Sharma is not the only one to have been cheated by property dealers in Dwarka. He had bought a plot of land from a property dealer last year. When he went to take the possession of the land he realised there were two more owners and that he had been cheated.

“The policemen would not even register a complaint. I had to approach the court on whose directions a case was registered. After registering the case, the policemen joined hands with the accused property dealers and took money from them. They asked me to lie low and not raise my voice. I decided to film the IO on camera. He even asked for money to arrest the accused,” said Sharma, a resident of Samta Enclave, Qutab Vihar in Dwarka.

The 50-minute-long CD has been handed over to the police, who are investigating the role of the policeman.

Mamta Sachdeva is another harried resident. The housewife has been running from pillar to post to get the property dealers arrested in her case.

“I purchased a plot from a property dealer for Rs 33 lakh in April last year. After a few months of taking possession, I was informed that someone was trying to break in. We came to know that the property dealer had used forged papers to sell the plot to us. It did not belong to them,” Sachdeva said.

After much persuasion the police registered an FIR in December last year.

“The property dealers roam freely in the area. When we ask the police to take action, they simply refused,” Sachdeva said. There are at least ten more victims of land fraud in Dwarka.

HC official fined for not replying to RTI query

HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times, New Delhi, March 14, 2009

The Central Information Commission has imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on a Delhi High Court official for failing to respond to an RTI application forwarded to it by the Supreme Court of India. This is the maximum penalty imposed under RTI.

“It appears that he has no submission justifying the failure to respond to the application transferred to him by the CPIO, Supreme Court of India. He has therefore rendered himself liable for the full penalty of Rs 25,000,” Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah said, in his order on Friday.

Habibullah directed the Registrar of Delhi High Court to recover this amount from Jt Registrar (establishment) and PIO P.S. Chaggar either directly or through deductions from his salary not exceeding Rs 5,000 per month from April 3.

The case relates to RTI application filed by one Vijay Pal Singh who sought information, regarding a case filed by the MCD against him, from the Supreme Court of India.

The apex court forwarded the application to the MCD and the Delhi High Court, as it was not the custodian of the information.

While Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) of MCD provided the information, though unsatisfactory as per Singh, the High Court representative did not even appear during the final hearing of the case at the CIC.