Crushing the voices
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Editor: NAGARAJ.M.R VOL.3 issue. 27 08 / 07 / 2009
Editrorial : Silencing The Voices Seeking Justice
In India India India
Will you lend your support for this democratic , non-violent struggle for peace , justice , along with Mr.Nagaraj.M.R. All humane persons are welcome. Jai hind . vande matarm.
Your's sincerely ,
Nagaraj.M.R.
The Death of Honesty
Published November 22nd, 2005 in Crime, India and Society.
Manjunath Shanmugham (27) , an IIM-L alumni and IOL employee, was killed by the owners of a petrol pump he had recommended be shut down for adulterating oil.
At the time of writing, only one mainstream newspaper has carried the story.
Some bloggers have pointed out the callousness and total loss of focus on part of the mainstream media for not carrying the story of a man who died for his honesty. I am not going to do that.
On the other hand, I would like to thank the mainstream media from shielding us from this piece of disturbing news.
Because I want to be entertained. Because I want to tell my next generation:" Always speak the truth. Always be honest. Remember truth always wins. " without the gnawing feeling at the back of my mind " Will this advice, if taken to heart, kill the kid?"
That's why I don't need to know.
But I do. Because of an incident that took place a long time ago. I was 14 then and my parents and I were returning from our uncle's place on a local train. At some point, some rice smugglers got onto the train (who seemingly avoid octroi by routing their supply through non-conventional channels eg a passenger compartment), obviously without tickets and literally took over the compartment asking people to leave their seats and harassing passengers. Before you could say "CPM assholes", the compartment was full of gunny bags and more ruffians than you could shake a finger at.
Some of the passengers protested, my father among them.
Then as the train reached the station, Railway Police men entered the compartment. My father went upto them complaining about these rice smugglers. By this time, the more worldy-wise passengers (except my dad that is) had slipped away as they knew something my dad did not—the Railway Police are the fighting unit of the rice smugglers. Yes sirree bob welcome to Jyoti Basu's Ramrajya sorry Marxrajya.
Soon it was my father against a dozen RPF "people" who were openly threatening him with physical harm. The rice smugglers had, in the melee, made their quiet getaway. They then took my father to the RPF outpost where they were going to "take action" against him for obstructing them in performing their duties. What irony !
I remember being petrified at the prospect of these men hurting my father as my mother and I went and sat in that
So he escorted the 3 of us outside the station and I remember him apologizing privately to my father saying that he knew exactly what was going on, but so well-connected are the smugglers and the cops with the powers-that-be that he was helpless to do anything.
As I mentioned, I was 14 then. I had learnt my lesson—look the other way. Cowardly. Sure. I prefer being a coward than having a broken nose or being dead. And I am sure I am not the only one who feels so.
And thats why these stories deserve to be suppressed because they can only convince more 14 year olds that honesty does not pay. Now, we dont want them to lose their idealism, do we?
Am I being cynical here? I think not. A few blogs will be written on Manjunath's death, a few readers will say "chuk-chuk look what
But his family wont forget him. They will always live with the feeling that their son died for being honest—-something he could have avoided without much ado. If he only had taken the money, he would have been still breathing. Like the rest of us.
What a waste of a fine human being.
So here's my advice to everyone. Idolize Manjunath. Shed a tear for him. Discuss his honesty and the petrol-pump-allotment policies of the government over a cup of coffee.
Promise not to steal office supplies for a week. Err make it two days.
But do not under any circumstance try to follow him.
Remember that "Satyameva Jayate" is nothing more than a crappy Vinod Khanna movie.
Remember that.
And stay alive.
SILENCING THE VOICE SEEKING JUSTICE – Mr.Satyendra Dubey
Early life
Satyendra K. Dubey, the son of Bageshwari Dubey and Phulamati Devi, was born at the
Until the age of 15 he studied at the Gang Baksh Kanodiya High School Shahpur and joined junior college at Allahabad, about three hundred kilometers away. Living away from home was a considerable drain on the meager resources of his family. However, he pursued his dream of becoming an engineer, and was admitted to the Civil Engineering Department of IIT Kanpur in 1990, the first person from his village to enter an IIT.
He graduated with an excellent academic record in 1994. Subsequently, he did his M. Tech (Civil Engg.) from IT-BHU in 1996.
[edit] Professional Life
For some time, Dubey worked at the Ministry of Surface Transport in Delhi, before he was selected for the Indian Engineering Service (IES),
While at the ministry he once called the police when offered a bribe[1]
In July 2002 he was employed by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).
Dubey became the Assistant Project Manager at Koderma, Jharkhand, responsible for managing a part of the Aurangabad-Barachatti section of National Highway 1 (The Grand Trunk Road). This highway was part of the Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) Corridor Project, the Prime Minister's baby, which aimed to connect the metros of the country by four-lane limited-access highways totalling 14,000 km, at an overall cost more than USD 10 billion.
During this period, he got the contractor of the project to suspend three of his engineers after exposing serious financial irregularities. At one point, he had the contractor rebuild six kilometers of under-quality road, a huge loss for the road contract mafia.
[edit] Exposing Corruption
The GQ project had strict controls to ensure that the construction work would be carried on by experienced firms with proper systems. A second independent contract was given for supervision of the project. However, Dubey discovered that the contracted firm, Larsen and Toubro, had been quietly subcontracting the actual work to smaller low-technology groups, controlled by the local mafia. When he wrote to his boss, NHAI Project Director SK Soni, and to Brig Satish Kapoor, engineer overlooking the supervision, there was no action.
According to the case file after his murder (FIR), Dubey had been facing several threats following his action against corruption at Koderma. A subsequent FIR filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) named both Soni and Kapoor.
In August 2003 when he was transferred to Gaya, a transfer which he opposed since he felt that it did not serve the interests of NHAI.
At
There was widespread sentiment (based on their pattern of operation), that the criminal nexus, opposed to having him as director, may have been behind his murder.
[edit] Letter to the Prime Minister
Meanwhile, faced with the possibility of high-level corruption within the NHAI, Dubey wrote directly to the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, detailing the financial and contractual irregularities in the project. While the letter was not signed, he attached a separate bio-data so that the matter would be taken more seriously. Despite a direct request that his identity be kept secret and its sensitive content that pointed fingers at some of his superiors, the letter along with bio-data was forwarded immediately to the Ministry for Road Transport. Dubey also sent the same letter to the Chairman, NHAI.
Soon Dubey received a reprimand: the vigilance office of NHAI officially "cautioned" Dubey for the impropriety of writing a letter directly to the Prime minister. In the process, through connections in the NHAI and the Ministry, it is likely that the letter may have reached the criminal nexus running the highway construction projects in
Following the event, pressure is mounting in
[edit] Great Loot of Public Money: Contents of Letter
The letter said the NHAI officials showed a great hurry in giving mobilisation advance to selected contractors for financial consideration. "In some cases the contractors have been given mobilisation advance just a day after signing the contract agreement."
"The entire mobilisation advance of 10 per cent of contract value, which goes up to Rs 40 crore (USD 10 million) in certain cases, are paid to contractors within a few weeks of award of work but there is little follow up to ensure that they are actually mobilised at the site with the same pace, and the result is that the advance remains lying with contractors or gets diverted to their other activities," it said.
Dubey also highlighted the problems of sub-contracting by the primary contractors like Larsen and Toubro.
"Though the NHAI is going for international competitive bidding to procure the most competent civil contractors for execution of its projects, when it comes to actual execution, it is found that most of the works, sometimes even up to 100 per cent are subcontracted to petty contractors incapable of executing such big projects," he said. Everyone in the NHAI is aware of the phenomenon of subcontracting but looked the other way.
"A dream project of unparalleled importance to the Nation but in reality a great loot of public money because of very poor implementation at every state." wrote Dubey.
Finally, he ends: "I have written all these in my individual capacity. However, I will keep on addressing these issues in my official capacity in the limited domain within the powers delegated to me," the letter said.
[edit] Assassination
On November 27, 2003, Dubey was returning from a wedding in Varanasi, and called his driver to meet him at the station. He reached
It appears that at this point Dubey decided to take a rickshaw home. When he didn't reach home, his driver went to look for him and found him dead by the side of the road in the suburb of A.P. Colony. He had been shot.
The news ignited tremendous public hue and cry. The matter was raised in Parliament, and the Prime Minister shifted the onus of investigation from the Bihar Police (who might themselves be implicated), to the CBI.
The CBI registered a case against unknown persons under 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 302 (murder) of Indian Penal Code and various provision under Arms Act on December 14 2003.
[edit] The investigation
In early investigations, the CBI interrogated the rickshaw puller Pradeep Kumar who was caught using Dubey's stolen cell phone. The mobile phone was switched off for about a fortnight after the murder, but then Kumar called his 'second wife' in Kolkata, following which the CBI traced the rickshaw puller to his slum in Gaya. Although Kumar had a criminal history in similar cases of robbery, it appears he was released after interrogation, and could not be traced a month later.
Two other suspects, Sheonath Sah and Mukendra Paswan, were questioned by the CBI. They were found dead from poisoning on February 1, 2004, within 25 hours of the CBI questioning. Sah's father lodged an FIR against the CBI with the Bihar Police, but CBI Director Umashanker Mishra called their deaths a suicide in a press meeting a few days later.
CBI later arrested four persons, Uday Mallah, Mantu Kumar, Tutu Kumar and Babloo, all belonging to Katari
The person accused of actually shooting Dubey with a country-made pistol was Mantu Kumar, son of Lachhu Singh, of Village Katari,
[edit] Murderer escapes
Mantu Kumar was arrested from near his home in Panchayatee khada in Gaya. He had apparently been living in
It was felt that the escape was engineered by higher-ups who may have executed the murder through Mantu Kumar. The CBI announced a cash reward of Rs. 1 Lakh for apprehending Mantu. [3]
[edit] Who ordered the murder
It is possible that Dubey may have been the victim of a simple robbery during which Mantu Kumar shot him, as alleged in the case filed by CBI. However, given the death and disappearance of several witnesses and the startling escape of the prime accused, there is wide-spread speculation that vested interests may have engaged the criminals who actually pulled the trigger.
As for the GQ project, the Supreme Court is currently overlooking investigations into the corruption charges initially raised by the Dubey letter. Several official have been indicted and a technical team is overseeing the actual construction.
Also, as of September 2005, news reports indicated that the law ministry was about to introduce legislation to protect whistleblowers.
Meanwhile, on 10 February 2006, a 600 meter stretch of the highway connecting Kolkata to Chennai subsided into the ground, opening up ten meter gorges near Bally, West Bengal [4]. This stretch had been completed a year back by a multinational firm, selected after global tendering.
[edit] Legacy
Dubey's murder drew several protests in
Satyendra Dubey was recognised posthumously by several awards, which included the Whistleblower of the year award from the London-based Index on Censorship [4], the Transparency International's Annual integrity award and the Service Excellence award from the All India Management Association. [5]
On 2007-11-26 NDTV aired a documentary by Mini Vaid on Satyendra Dubey[5].
[edit] See also
- Shanmughan Manjunath: Indian Institute of Management Lucknow graduate and Indian Oil Corporation employee Manjunath was brutally murdered by the oil mafia in 2005 when he tried to check petrol adulteration in Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh.
- Jessica Lal murder case of a Delhi-model shot by Manu Sharma, the son of Haryana's electricity minister. After a huge hue and cry, Manu Sharma was convicted and is serving out his prison term.
- Sanjeev Nanda hit-and-run case where the grandson of a former Chief of Navy, ran over 6 people in 1999 and acquitted in a lower court, the case is continuing in a higher court.
[edit] References
- ^ S.K. Dubey Foundation
- ^ http://www.cbi.gov.in/pressreleases/PRelease2004/pr14jun04.htm
- ^ http://cbi.gov.in/seekinfo/s_dubey_case.php
- ^ 2
- ^ Mini Vaid (2007-11-27). "Can you hear the whistle blow?". Indian Express. http://www.indianexpress.com/story/243659.html. Retrieved on 2007-11-27.
[edit] External links
- S. K. Dubey Foundation
- Indian Express "Speak Up Gun Down" coverage of Satyendra Dubey
- Rediff.com's "Truth Silenced" pages on Satyendra Dubey
- Biography of Satyendra Kumar Dubey
- CBI notice of reward for Mantu Kumar
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satyendra_Dubey"
Categories: 1973 births | 2003 deaths | Whistleblowers | Indian Institute of Technology people | Indian murder victims | Deaths by firearm in India | People murdered in India
Hidden categories: Cleanup from January 2008 | All pages needing cleanup
SILENCING THE VOICE SEEKING JUSTICE Mr.Shanmughan Manjunath
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Shanmugam Manjunath ( Kannada: ಷಣ�ಮ�ಗಂ ಮಂಜ�ನಾಥ) (1978 Kolar-2005) was a marketing manager for the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) who was murdered for sealing a corrupt petrol station in UP. Who later became a rallying cry for IIM, IIT and other institutes students.
Contents[hide] |
[edit] Education
Manjunath earned his Computer Science Engineering degree from Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering, Mysore, and an MBA from Indian Institute of Management Lucknow.
[edit] Opposition to corruption and murder
While working for the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) in Lucknow, he had ordered two petrol pumps at Lakhimpur Kheri sealed for selling adulterated fuel for three months. When the pump started operating again a month later, Manjunath decided to conduct a surprise raid around November 19, 2005.
Having not heard from his son for three days, at around 9 that night, his father, M Shanmughan, had sent an SMS: "How are you?". There was no reply because that very night, during his inspection, Manjunath had been shot dead in Gola Gokarannath town of
[edit] Murder Trial
Manjunath's death came close on the heels of the assassination of Satyendra Dubey, suspected to have been for similar reasons (fighting corruption). Following the murder, there was immense media spotlight on the case. S. Manjunath's batchmates from IIM Lucknow (where he was affectionately called machan) also kept the story alive.
Fortunately, the Manjunath Shanmugam Trust took up the case with dogged determination. The Trust lawyer Mr. I.B Singh, the Public Prosecutor Sri Chandramohan Singh, Trustees, volunteers and supporters worked hard to ensure quick justice.16 months after the murder,all eight accused were guilty by the Lakhimpur Khiri Sessions Court (not a fast track court!). This is in sharp contrast to the 6 years for the Sanjeev Nanda hit-and-run case and the Jessica Lall murder case to come to trial. where the son of an influential MP was acquitted by a smaller court and finally convicted in the Delhi High Court after a sustained outcry by the public and dogged campaign by the media.
The main accused Monu Mittal and 7 accomplices were convicted of murder by Sessions judge, Lakhimpur Kheri. [1]
Bail appeals by the convicted killers are being heard in the Lucknow High Court - the Manjunath Shanmugam Trust lawyer Mr. I.B Singh continues to work closely with the case.
[edit] Aftermath
The conviction gives renewed faith for citizens of India in their legal justice system in terms of punishing the guilty and also timely justice, bringing it somewhat in line with western justice systems. The speed of this case is also the result of efforts undertaken by the government to clear the huge backlog of cases in Indian courts.
Indian Oil Corporation paid Rs. 26 lakhs compensation to the family. The matter of adulteration in diesel was taken up by the Energy Coordination Committee chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. One of the policy remedies being considered is to minimize the subsidy in the price of kerosene (used as cooking fuel by the weaker classes), and to explore alternate mechanisms for implementing the subsidy. Subsequently, several tanker trucks, laden with thousands of liters of kerosene, were seized en route to a district neighbouring Lakhimpur Kheri [1].
[edit] The Manjunath Shanmugam Trust
A pan IIM initiative, "The Manjunath Shanmugam Trust" was registered on 23 February 2006, Manjunath's birth anniversary. With immediate objectives of fighting the case, they have a broader agenda of improving governance in Indian public life.
On 26 March 2007, the main accused Pawan Kumar Mittal was awarded death sentence, while the other seven accused were sentenced to life imprisonment.
Key Initiatives The Trust runs
[edit] The Manjunath Shanmugam Integrity Award
The Manjunath Shanmugam Integrity Award carries a citation and a Rs. One Lakh Cash Award; to honour those who have reported and worked to rectify systemic corruption. The first Manjunath Shanmugam Integrity Award was awarded on March 24, 2007 to Prof. R.P. Singh, Vice Chancellor Lucknow University for his extraordinary courage in taking on criminals and politicians to clean up
Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti president Akhil Gogoi received the prestigious 2nd Shanmugam Manjunath Integrity Award from the Magsassay awardee Kiran Bedi at a function held on March 28, 2008 at the IIT Delhi Seminar Hall. Mr Gogoi who hails from upper
[edit] Notes
[edit] See also
- Satyendra Dubey: Assassinated Nov 2003 for whistleblowing on the criminal nexus in highway construction in Bihar.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanmughan_Manjunath"
Categories: Whistleblowers | Indian engineers | 1978 births | 2005 deaths | Murdered businesspeople | Indian murder victims | Deaths by firearm in India | People from Lucknow | People from Lakhimpur Kheri | People murdered in India | Assassinated activists | People from Kolar
DOUBLE STANDARDS OF INDIAN JUDICIARY & POLICE
In
Whereas , Rich Criminals are manipulating the evidences , records & are going scot free. The Public Servants treat Rich Criminals Favourably with kid gloves ofcourse for a price.
Now , take for instance , public servants of the rank of supreme court chief justice & President of india are hiding information relating to crime , covering-up crimes , violating commoner's human rights , fundamental rights , obstructing citizen from performing their Constitutionally prescribed Fundamental Duties as Citizens of India , no action by police , they are not even registering the complaint.
Whereas , if a commoner cover-ups a crime or evidence , he also becomes a criminal , if a commoner violates the fundamental / human right of a rich person , if a commoner obstructs a public servant from performing his public duties , all those become crimes & he is legally booked for each counts.
Why not police registering complaint against the above stated public servants for above crimes. IS IT NOT DOUBLE STANDARD.
POLICE COMPLAINT AGAINST HONOURABLE CHIEF JUSTICE OF
From,
NAGARAJ.M.R.
LIG-2 / 761, HUDCO FIRST STAGE,
LAXMIKANTANGAR, HEBBAL,
Through,
Honourable DG & IG of Police ,
State Police H.Q ,
To,
Honourable Circle Inspector of Police,
Vijayanagar Police Station,
Honourable Sir,
Subject : Violation of FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS & HUMAN RIGHTS by
Honourable Chief Jusice of
In
equal , have right to equal oppurtunity &
equitable justice irrespective of caste , creed , religion , etc. the
constitution has guaranteed these to every indian
citizen by way of CONSTITUTIONAL FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS. Also , every
humanbeing on earth has got HUMAN RIGHTS, by virtue of
his / her birth.
However in india , CONSTITUTIONAL FUNCTIONARIES / PUBLIC
SERVANTS have forgotten this & are acting as lords ,
autocrats - unquestionable public masters. CONSTITUTIONAL
FUNCTIONARIES are PUBLIC SERVANTS appointed to serve the public,
public are the kings of democracy , they are the taxpayers &
paymasters of this very same public servants.
In
wide , it has not even spared the judiciary. The last
resort of commonman for seeking justice is judiciary , even there
corruption has spread.In present day
is rich , he can committ any type of crime & get away clean from
courts of law. there are corrupt police officials
who modify FIR , suppress evidences ,manipulate evidences , takes up
different line of investigation , fix innocents ,
coughs-up false confessions from innocents by 3rd degree torture ,
file B report closing the case , decides not to
appeal in higher court of law , etc , ALL FOR A PRICE. Just see the
list of millionnaire police officials who are
caught by karnataka lokayukta.
Next step , the prosecutor & defense advocate strikes a
deal , manipulates evidences , manipulates way
of presentation of case & way of argument favouring the rich crooks
for a price , as observed in high profile
BMW case involving public prosecutor IU KHAN & defense counsel RK
ANAND. In this way , if corrupt police & advocates ,
together manipulate the due process of law , the presiding judge is
left high & dry eventhough the judge is honest,
he is left helpless. to add to this , when the judge himself is
corrupt , people's last hope , democracy is dead. nowadays
we are hearing too many reports of irregularities in judiciary.
our publication has filed many appeals as PUBLIC INTEREST
LITIGATION before hon'ble supreme court of india,
but the vested interests there are not accepting it as PILs. WHAT DOES
PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION MEANS ?
ISSUES WHICH ARE OF PUBLIC CONCERN AFFECTING MANY NUMBER OF PUBLICS.
The issues raised by us for sample :
1. sale of fake medicines & adulterated food products , beverages ,
colas affecting the health of millions of indians
& public of importing nations who are importing the same dangerous
products from
2. demolition , eviction of houses , lands belonging to poor dalits ,
tribals , backward castes by government authorities
whereas regularising illegal land encroachments , illegal buildings
by high & mighty people in total disregard to law.
in some cases government has even made contempt of court , by defying
court orders & enacting special laws all to favour rich land grabbers.
3. take the cases corporate frauds, violation of labour laws ,
pollution board laws , tax laws , etc by companies.
4. The reports in media about certain highly placed public servants
leaking
& some politicians , film stars attending parties hosted by anti
nationals DAWOOD IBRAHIM & underworld dons in gulf
countries & elsewhere.
these type of appeals are for public good , national
security , as public are affected by them. still supreme court of
our repeated PIL Appeals.the courts have the authority to consider
even a post card , e-mail as a PIL Appeal , the courts
even have the right to initiate suo-motto action for public good ,
inspite of absence of any appeals / complaints.
over & above this at the time of my very first appeal my income was
very low & i was a retrenched factory employee who was eligible
for free legal aid, even free legal aid was not given to me.
Now , even to my repeated RTI Appeals the Honourable chief
justice of
are not giving the requested information . these action of CJI &
PRESIDENT OF
nationals ,
amounts to suppression of information , truth , evidences , which is a
cognizable offence.
We do have highest respect for all constitutional bodies ,
public servants , but it is an appeal to the
honest few in public service ,to bring to book their corrupt
colleagues.The Honourable Chief Justice of India & H.E.Honourable
President of
have violated their oaths of office , failed in their constitutional
duties , suppressed material truths / informations & thereby
repeatedly
violated my Constitutionally guaranteed FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS & BASIC
HUMAN RIGHTS & Obstructing me from performing constitutionally
prescribed FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES AS A CITIZEN OF
request you to legally prosecute the above two public servants
on the above mentioned charges. the whole issue of this news paper &
the related materials at the weblinks provided, forms part of this
complaint.
thanking you.
Date : 19.06.09 your's sincerely,
Place :
SHOW-CAUSE NOTICE TO H.E.PRESIDENT OF
edited , printed , published & owned by NAGARAJ.M.R. @ : LIG-2 / 761 , HUDCO FIRST STAGE , OPP WATER WORKS OFFICE , LAKSHMIKANTANAGAR ,HEBBAL , MYSORE -570017 INDIA cell :09341820313
home page: http://groups.google.co.in/group/e-clarion-of-dalit/ ,
http://e-clarionofdalit.blogspot.com/ ,
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e-mail : nagarajhrw@hotmail.com , naghrw@yahoo.com
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