Mumbai: Slain RTI activist Satish Shetty`s
brother Sandip Shetty on Thursday said that he wanted to intervene
in the PIL being heard by the Bombay High Court in connection
with his murder.
Satish, a Talegaon-based Right To Information (RTI)
activist and an anti-corruption crusader, who had unearthed
several land-related scams in the area, was murdered last
month by unidentified assailants while on a morning walk.
The High Court took suo motu (own its own) notice of
the incident, and initiated a PIL. Sandip, Satish`s younger
brother, was today present in the court.
His lawyer said that he wanted to intervene in the
PIL, as he had a lot of documents pertaining to Satish`s RTI
queries.
"He has no confidence in the police," Sandip`s lawyer
said. The division bench of Justices F I Rebello and J H
Bhatia said that it would allow him to become a party.
The state government today informed the court that out
of six persons who are suspected to be involved in Satish`s
murder, five have been arrested so far, and police have sought
Magistrate`s permission to subject them to lie detector test.
Senior advocate D Madon, appointed as amicus curie to
assist the court, said that countries such as Mexico and
Columbia have special systems for providing protection to
activists, and authorities are studying them.
Adjourning the hearing for one week, the High Court
sought a reply from the government about progress in Shetty
murder case, and about the proposed steps for protecting
social activists.
The court also sought a reply from Mumbai police
commissioner about investigation into six cases of threats or
assaults on local social activists.
Mitra, an umbrella organisation of NGOs which has
intervened in this PIL, had submitted list of these cases to
the police commissioner.
PTI
