Kerala - Malappuram   

Kunhali’s death statement sought

MALAPPURAM: A sitting held by State Information Commissioner K. Rajagopal here on Monday dealt with 13 complaints of various nature, including one on seeking the death statement of Karikadan Kunhali, the Communist leader of Nilambur assassinated by a gunman in 1969.

Dr. Rajagopal directed the Superintendent of the Taluk Hospital, Nilambur, to give the death statement of Kunhali within a week. The order came a petition filed by Manoj Kumar K., vice-president of the People’s Collective on Right to Information.

Mr. Kumar had requested the hospital superintendent for the statement as per the Right to Information Act on November 15, 2008. However, he got a reply from the hospital superintendent after 143 days saying that no document was available on Kunhali at the hospital. The CPI(M) leader died at the Taluk Hospital on July 28, 1969.

Mr. Kumar argued before the Commissioner that the superintendent should be penalised for the delay in replying to his request. The Commissioner, however, directed the superintendent to file an affidavit if no document was found within a week. The last words of Kunhali, if revealed, are likely to kick up a fresh political row in Malabar. Kunhali, two-time MLA of the party, was shot dead allegedly by his political opponents.

In another complaint, filed by Tharakkal Mohammed Ali, a member of the Irumbiliyam grama panchayat , the Commissioner directed the panchayat to refund him Rs.826 he paid for the copies of the minutes of the panchayat council meetings. According to the Panchayati Raj Act, a council member is entitled to get a copy of the minutes of the council meeting within two days. Mr. Ali said in his complaint that he never got a copy of the minutes despite the requests he made.

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