JAMMU: The credibility of the Lieutenant Governor’s Grievance Cell in Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory has come under a dark cloud due to ‘motivated’ approach of some of the unscrupulous officials with growing reports of harassment pouring in at frequent intervals. At times, the harassment manifests in virtual blackmail.
Essentially formed with the honest intention of redressing the grievances and addressing the genuine problems of the public, the Cell has turned out to be an institution of ‘settling scores’ and harassing law abiding citizens on the basis of anonymous or pseudonymous complaints.
According to sources, the modus operandi being adopted is to engineer a complaint, order verification of the contents and give leverage to ‘unscrupulous’ investigating officials. This obviously leads to harassment or blackmail of the pointed person or persons in the complaint.
Such a mechanism is not new, either in Jammu and Kashmir or outside the Union Territory. This is a tested process for ‘vested interests’ to engage adversaries and rivals in official wrangling. The offshoot of such a vicious circle generally ends up in extortions and harassment. This is why the Central Vigilance Commission told on September 27, 2020 all government departments not to take cognizance of anonymous corruption complaints, saying any violation of this guideline will be “viewed seriously”. The Commission said that earlier orders by the DoPT and the CVC prescribed that “no action would be taken on anonymous/pseudonymous complaints” by ministries/ departments/organisations. Also, the Government of Haryana last year decided not to take any action on anonymous and pseudonymous complaints. An order issued by the Chief Secretary, inter allia, said a large number of anonymous/pseudonymous complaints were submitted to the government, often to blackmail and intimidate the honest people. The order specifically directed that these complaints should be ignored. Besides, complaints containing vague allegations should not be filed without verification of the identity of the complainant, the order added.
Even the courts say that anonymous complaints shall not be entertained. After taking off with a big promise, the LG’s Grievance Cell is facing credibility deficit-courtesy, a nexus between the officials and habitual anonymous complainants. It is not that grievances should not be redressed but at the same time, it is incumbent upon the officials dealing with these sensitive issues to verify the veracity of the complaints or the motivations behind these. Of course, the genuine complaints, submitted by the people with due identity, should be investigated fearlessly and guilty should be punished as per law. The genuine complainant will never shy away from giving his or her address and mobile number to facilitate the officials to reach out to the complainant to establish authenticity.
In the normal course, the Cell should satisfy itself about the genuineness of complaint by ascertaining it either through mobile phone or email or any other such platform but perhaps some officials are floating all the norms and entertaining anonymous complaints by virtue of which anonymous complainants start blackmailing or harassing the person concerned as the case may be, sending to winds all the rules of justice and by becoming party to such act.
This is not in the government sector only; the private sector too is facing this malady. The corporate giant Infosys has stated that anonymous letters with allegations and no evidence cannot be regarded as being credible.
With these shady experiments being faced by the government agencies and the private institutions, it is incumbent upon the administration to take cognizance of the complaints pouring in about the performance of the LG’s Grievance Cell. After all, its credibility needs to be maintained to firm up the faith of the people in the institution.
Therefore, to keep the sanctity of LG Grievances Cell, instructions must be given to the staff concerned to adhere to the genuineness. Stern action must be taken against the unscrupulous officials, who entertain anonymous complaints for the other reasons.