Tainted-Info Commissioner quits

Saving himself from the disgrace of being suspended from a Constitutional post, State Information Commissioner Deepak Deshpande has resigned from his post, less than a fortnight after he was booked as one of the accused in the multi-thousand crore PWD scam.  “The Governor has accepted the resignation of Deshpande, after holding consultations with the State Government on the suspension process initiated by it last week,” informed sources at the Raj Bhavan said here on Friday.

Within days after it booked former State Minister Chhagan Bhujbal and 15 others in the PWD scam and raided the multiple properties of nine public servants, including the tainted-State Information Commissioner, the Maharashtra Government had initiated the process of recommending Deshpande’s exit from his Constitutional position.

“Though the State Government had recommended to the Governor for the suspension of Deshpande, the recommendation had not made in a format it ought to have been. On his part, the Governor asked the Government to invoke the provisions of the RTI Act to recommend the suspension of the scam-tainted Information Commissioner. Even as the State Government was in the process of re-sending the recommendation, Deshpande sent in his resignation to the Governor on June 23,” the sources said.

The Chief Minister’s decision to recommend Deshpande’s suspension had come less than a week after the State ACB conducted raids on the latter’s residences in Mumbai and Aurangabad and seized 1.53 kilograms of gold, 27 kilograms of silver, bonds to the tune of `2 crore, three bank accounts with `50 lakh deposits and four bank lockers. 

The investigators had found Deshpande to be owning flats and bungalows at Thane (1), Pune (three) and Aurangabad (1), a plot at Aurangabad, shops at Nashik and Aurangabad, five hectares of agriculture land at Aurangabad and two four-wheelers.Under Section 17 (1) of the RTI Act, the Governor has powers to remove a State Information Commissioner from his post on the grounds of “misbehaviour” or “incapacity”, after referring the matter to the Supreme Court. The relevant section of the RTI Act reads thus: “Subject to the provisions of sub-section (3), the 

State Chief Information Commissioner or State Information Commissioner shall be removed from his office only by order of the Governor on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity after the Supreme Court, on a reference made to it by the Governor, has on inquiry, reported that the State Chief Information Commissioner or State Information Commissioner, as the case may be, ought on such ground be removed.”

Pending an inquiry and receipt of a report from the Supreme Court, the Governor could have invoked Section 17 (2) of the Act either suspended Deshpande, after making a reference to the apex court, from office or prohibited him from attending the office.The Governor also could have used another provision stipulated under Section 17 (3) of the Act to proceed against Deshpande. For, this sub-section states that if the person holding the post “has acquired such financial or other interest as is likely to affect prejudicially his functions as the State Chief Information Commissioner or a State Information Commissioner” to axe Deshpande, considering his alleged involvement in the PWD scam.

However, by putting in his papers, Deshpande has saved himself of the embarrassment of being removed from his Constitutional post by the Governor.  

A 1976 — batch MPSC officer who holds an M Tech degree from IIT — Bombay, Deshpande had held positions in the PWD and the Maharashtra State Roads Development Corporation (MSRDC). On October 6, 2010, the State Government had appointed Deshpande as the State Information Commission, in-charge of Aurangabad division.