BMTF and Dr. R.P. Sharma to go ?

Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force (BMTF) chief R.P. Sharma is accused of amalgamating two sites to construct his house at Doddagubbi village in Bidarahalli hobli. Says Hindu report dated Bangalore march 4 2012. Click here to see the article. Is this transfer prelude to taking harsher measures in case of repeat offences?

This move is so insulting that its not funny anymore. They arent even trying to maintain a facade anymore, its all so brazen its like a slap on our face.

Ramesh and other mayors said that they are united to fight against Sharma's outrageous bookings of criminal charges against BBMP engineers and harassing officials, which he is not within his purview.
Sharma has recently broke open many engineers black money piggy banks and brought them under the scanner under BMTF's authority to investigate in the matters relating to BBMP

Source

People should clearly note all these people speaking out against being policed. Our city today is in this sorry state because of these corrupt people in the den called BBMP. We need to demand that all past & present corrupt BBMP folks be imprisoned first & then released after proving their innocence. 

That reminds me... if somebody can just tell me where to dump, I will arrange my own garbage pickup truck for my street. I will get a competitive bid & we can all take care of this ourselves. Atleast that way we will feel responsible for cleaning up the muck we generate.

Mayor D Venkatesh Murthy told the media on Thursday that he had written to chief minister Jagadish Shettar, requesting him to withdraw BMTF's prosecution powers. "BMTF must be there just as a police station. It should be authorized to take complaints only after obtaining the commissioner's consent, and even then, the complaint should be registered with the local police station and not the BMTF," the mayor said.

The state home department, in a notification on May 27, 1996, constituted the BMTF as a police station. Another urban development department notification of August 28, 1997, categorically stated that the BMTF is a police station to protect, detect and prosecute offenders under 12 different acts, including the KMC Act, BDA Act, BWSSB Act, Inam Abolition Act and IPC.

BMTF sources said they are at a loss to understand the backlash from BBMP employees, as the force was only carrying out its mandate.

In a letter dated September 30, 2009, then BBMP commissioner Bharat Lal Meena had said that criminal charges would be filed against joint directors and other engineers if they failed to give a report on byelaw violations happening in their jurisdiction areas.

"Despite such a circular, there have been violations in building construction everywhere and thus, complaints by the public. In his letter, Meena clearly stated that criminal charges would be taken up against engineers who fail to perform their duties and that's exactly what we are doing," said BMTF sources.

BMTF chief IGP RP Sharma says "I am only doing what I have been authorized to do. We took up investigation in 127 cases after courts asked us to do so. An assistant engineer told us during investigation that he allowed violations because of political pressure. But he never revealed any name. In BBMP, there is no rule of law, only the rule of man. BMTF has not received complaints against any MLA or corporator."

For the full report in the ToI, click here.

See here how the politicos undermine the authority of the Commissioner. In such a scenario, what is the point in bringing the BMTF under the Commissioner?

Well, very clearly, everyone associated with the BBMP is demanding his right to continue looting the citizens. In such a scenario, can the City Civil Society be just sitting and watching the goings on? Shouldn't we atleast voice our opinion? India Against Corruption may have been disbanded. But, can not the Bangalore Civil Society come together to form its own "Bangalore Against Corruption", and atleast express its opinion?

@ Anantram Sahibare' - It's perhaps when Congress and BJP get outnumbered that the situation will turn around for the country.

Meanwhile, in order that we get the right kind of people to represent us in future, do you want to sign this petition, please!

Considering the overall mood of Prajagalu in the matter, I have mailed the following letter to the CM, with copies to Minister, UDD, Chief Secretary, as well as Principal Secretary, UDD:

Sri Jagadish Shettar
Honourable Chief Minister, Govt of Karnataka,
Bangalore

Dear Sir

Sub: retaining BMTF’s mandate and powers

The Bengaluru citizenry is deeply perturbed over the moves of your government, reported in the press, to emasculate the powers of the BMTF, as also to bring it under the BBMP Commissioner (rather than the current arrangement where it is under the jurisdiction of the Urban Development Ministry). This apparently is being done to appease the BBMP officials, who, in collusion with the Corporators, have been amassing wealth, through blatantly corrupt practices, and at very high cost to the city and citizenry, in connection with which many of them have now been charged by the BMTF.

It is extremely disconcerting, Sir, that, when the BMTF chief, Dr R P Sharma, IPS, finally takes bold to act against the violators, quite as per his mandate and as directed by the court, not only is he vilified and hounded, but also the entire city is held to ransom depriving it of even the basic civic services, by the corrupt lot, through a strike call by them, and the government is seen to be just meekly giving in.

We wish to submit, Sir, that the city Civil Society, as one of the main stakeholders in the city, cannot remain mere spectators to these goings on, and we demand that BMTF be allowed to function unfettered, as originally conceived.

We look forward to your affirmative action in that direction.

Thanking you,

Yours truly,
for RAAG (Research, Analysis, Advocacy Group - furthering on the discussions at ‘praja.in’)
sd/-
Muralidhar Rao
(President)

BMTF chief, R. P. Sharma, who tried to shake things up in the corporation and weed out the inefficient and corrupt, has been given the marching orders

 Striking the BMTF another blow, it downgraded its post of Assistant Director General of Police (ADGP) to Inspector General of Police (IGP), effectively withdrawing the prosecuting powers of the BMTF chief.

The new chief, who will have to work under section 492(3) of the Karnataka Municipal Corporation (KMC) Act , will not be empowered to prosecute anyone without the permission of the BBMP commissioner and the authority extended by an official order, according to sources.

more here

Shame on these people!

These engineers are Corrupt and a burden on the society, that's it. Corruption can't be more direct than this. Action was taken against them and the bastards are up against the honest Sharma. It's such a shame that the Gov.[Corrupt] again gave into their stupid wants ans didn't shoot them. How I wish Modi was here.  Such a shame on BJP in Karnataka.

Sharma told TOI his transfer was premature. "I don't want to say whether this move is good or bad. But it's a premature transfer, and contrary to the affidavit filed in the Supreme Court by the state government, stating that DGP and IG rank police officials have a fixed tenure of two years," said Sharma.

For the full report in the ToI, click here.

Yes, if anyone wants to start a PIL, the route is perhaps quite clear from the above. But, I don't think we in RAAG by ourselves are equipped to take up such matters, as yet. If any other civil society group is planning to take it up, perhaps we can join forces with them.

LokSatta is planning a protest demo this Saturday morning. I shall announce the details through an event post.

Loksatta has called for a protest, saturday 9:30 AM

More details here - https://www.facebook.com/...

Protest Rally in protest against the BMTF chief's transfer and non-appointment of Lokayukta.

I will not be in town this weekend, so won't be able to part of it, but I will spread it among all my friends, and everyone please do so.

Deepak

The Bangalore bench of Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) on Thursday stayed the August 13 order for two weeks. The order, transferring RP Sharma from the post of ADGP, BMTF, was passed by the state government. The bench has also stayed the August 14 order posting senior IPS officer P Ravindranath in Sharma's place.

- - -"I assumed charge as ADGP, BMTF, Bangalore, on January 1, 2012 and was to continue till December 31, 2013, as per the binding directions of Supreme Court in Prakash Singh case. But the transfer order was passed for extraneous reasons to appease BBMP employees who are facing trial for acts of omission and commission, and without the concurrence of the urban development department which has borrowed the services. Prior to appointment as ADGP, BMTF, I was the IGP, BMTF, and registered cases against BBMP officials including engineers who were involved in the fake bill scam of Rs 1,563 crore," Sharma stated.

- - -"I diligently and fearlessly discharged my duties without fear or favour and took steps which were unpleasant and unacceptable to several vested interests. BMTF detected various instances of land grabbing and other cognizable and non-cognizable offences. Totally about 195 cases were taken up for investigation and 20 have been chargesheeted," he has stated.

For the full report in the ToI, click here.

This is egg on the face of GoK, if it has a face to show in the first place. Shame on Sri Jagadish Shettar and his ministry!

And what were the people doing? People should have supported Mr Sharma and the Task Force in this. I think they(people) did not rise up to the occasion.

The above is the quote from Justice Santosh Hegde in his interview, published in Citizen Matters. For the full text of the interview, click here.

Well, atleast we can claim to have done our bit - check my post of 14th Aug, above.

“The water body comes under the Lake Development Authority and there is forest land adjacent to it. We could save the lake and land from the encroachers,” said BMTF chief R P Sharma. The value of land reclaimed was put at Rs 120 crore. Sources in the revenue department said bigwigs, including a local gram panchayat member, were involved in the encroachment. “We are investigating and questioning the lorry driver to find out who’s involved in the encroachment and sand filtering unit,” said Sharma. - - - Sharma added that they registered 194 cases this year, of which 44 have resulted in chargesheets, 67 are in the courts and the remaining 149 are under investigation. - - - Sources in the BBMP said there is no move to withdraw the BMTF’s police powers as that would adversely affect the image of the government, which is still grappling with the garbage issue. “The withdrawal of police powers and status of a police station for BMTF is very sensitive as it may result in a public outcry,” said a senior civic official, when asked about plans to remove the powers vested with BMTF, on condition of anonymity. BBMP officials said there is a move to shift the BMTF office from the BBMP headquarters to a more spacious building and induct more staff to tackle the burgeoning number of cases involving the high-and-mighty.

For the full report in the ToI, click here.

Well, we contributed to the public outcry, and if it is making an impact, as the report seems to suggest and which is as it should be, perhaps, we need to speak out louder. For whatever it is worth, I'll send out another round of mails to all officials concerned.

With the Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force (BMTF) booking a string of cases and registering FIRs (first information reports) against senior politicians and bureaucrats, efforts are believed to be under way to dilute the powers of its chief R.P. Sharma, an IPS officer. Informed sources told The Hindu that hectic parleys are being held in this regard after the BMTF registered cases against Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister R. Ashok, Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs S. Suresh Kumar, Minister for Health Aravind Limbavali, the former Housing Minister S.N. Krishnaiah Setty and senior bureaucrats. - - - Sources in the BMTF said that despite all this hectic behind-the-scenes orchestrations, Mr. Sharma will continue to head the BMTF till December 13, 2013, which is as per the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) judgment. The judgment has also mentioned that the government could extend Mr. Sharma’s tenure if need be. In other words, Mr. Sharma would be the BMTF chief till the completion of his two-year tenure as per the CAT order and any attempt of alteration is subjugation of judicial order and amounts to contempt, sources said.

For the full report in "The Hindu", click here.

Mr Sharma, one would like to believe, is senior enough an officer to understand the implications of his actions, and for all that if he has gone ahead with them, they can't all be without sufficient basis. The politicos have been getting away with all kinds of shenanigans all these years, so much so, they have kind of come to believe it is their birth-right to carry-on in their ways. So, when a tough cop comes along to haul them up, using the authority available to him, perhaps buoyed by the changed mood in the country, they seem to be running helter-skelter.

In the one one more year tenure that he has ensured for himself in this office, through the CAT order, if he goes about in this fashion, perhaps a lot of cleaning up can happen. And, emboldened by his example, if more and more bureucrats begin to play the game strictly by the rules, hopefully, we could see the original meaning of the word 'governance' get restored in our lifetime.

Mr Sharma is going to be another nominee of mine for the Namma Bengaluru award

Letter as below mailed to the CM, with copies to CS, ACS, and Principal Sec Home (the original hard copy will be sent by regd post today):

Sri Jagadish Shettar
Honourable Chief Minister, Govt of Karnataka,
Bangalore

Dear Sir

Sub: permanency for BMTF

The Bengaluru citizenry has been observing with great appreciation the working of the BMTF ever since ADGP, Dr R P Sharma, IPS, took charge of the organisation. For the first time in its history, the organisation had begun carrying out its mandate diligently, providing some hope to the citizenry of the restoration of a semblance of governance of the city.

Of particular significance is its move to invite complaints from public on building plan violations, zonal law violations, government land encroachments, and general misuse of powers by various government departments, all of which have been responsible for the haphazard growth of the city. We, from the Civil Society, believe that if the city has to grow in a sustainable way, it is imperative that BMTF continues to function the way it has started functioning recently.

On the other hand, Sir, we hear that the BMTF's term, which is supposed to be ending as on March 31, this year, may not be extended, because of pressures from certain quarters harboring vested interests.

We, from the Civil Society, request you, Sir, not to heed to such pressures, but instead to give permanence to the BMTF, as also to strengthen its working.

We look forward to your affirmative action in that direction.

Thanking you,

Yours truly,
for PRAJA-RAAG,
sd/-
President

It will be good if all the other Civil Society groups in the city can also follow suit, making whatever changes they may wish to make. If the CM receives say a hundred such letters, he will have little option other than to take note of them. This can perhaps be followed up with the Civil Society joining together, say under the CAF banner, and submitting a memorandum, physically.