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To Central Public Information Officer Supreme Court of India, New Delhi. Tel. No.23073580/ Fax No.23384533 Name: Prerna Prasad Mailing Address: Prerna Prasad Desk Editor, News Desk Editorial Department CNN-IBN Express Trade Tower Plot 15, 16 Sector 16 A, Film City Noida, UP PIN: 201301 Email Id: prernap_prasad@yahoo.com Particulars of the information required A writ petition Civil no. 161 of 2004 was filed by People’s Union for Civil Liberties versus Union of India, regarding inclusion of ‘none of the above’ option in the Electronic Voting Machines. What is the status of the above writ petition? An order passed on February 2009 referred the matter to a constitutional bench. Has the constitutional bench taken any decision on the said writ petition? If not, what are the reasons for the delay of nearly two years in deciding this important question of great public importance? Place: Noida Date: PRERNA PRASAD

Contradicting the system of waking up late and relaxing, I woke up early on Sunday morning. Prepared my meal and was ready to be out of my house by 9 AM. The thought of travelling the distance of about 60 kilometers by a public transport did haunt me. But my inner will was so strong that it could not deviate me from my motive. I took a Metro and then a bus and reached the venue after a journey of 3 hours. You would be wondering as to where was I going and for what? Revealing the mystery, I was going to the resettlement colony in Bawana, a project site of Navjyoti (an NGO working for the unprivileged). And my purpose was teaching English to kids of 10th standard. It was my first experience of its kind. I had given lectures and presentations in my college but teaching a bunch of school kids that too from the deprived section was a challenging experience. I was informed by the Navjyoti program officer that the kids were naughty and they knew very less about the subject. This caution...

Corruption is a crime everyone is party to! Whether you wish or not, intentionally or innocently, one participates in acts of corruption on day-to-day basis. By corruption, I do not mean just payment or acceptance of bribe. On a wider sense, it refers to any action that is dishonest, violates rules or hampers the society at large. Throwing litter on road, breaking a traffic signal, deriving personal benefits out of official positions are acts of corruption. Politicians or bureaucrats are just not to be blamed for it. Every Indian contributing to corruption is responsible for the termite eating away our system. During the anti corruption movement at Jantar Mantar, every other individual I interacted to, was a witness of corruption. And, hardly anyone of them had resisted it. Most of them argued that to survive in the system they were bound to pay bribe. One man told, that if his daughter is dying and she needs blood but the blood bank is asking for bribe, what should he do? Should h...

1. Write an application addressing to the Public Information Officer of the concerned department. Mention your query, name and complete mailing address 2. Visit your nearby Post Office 3. Buy Rs.10 postal order for filing an RTI 4. Contact the information officer in the Post Office. He will attach your application to the postal order and send it to the concerned department. Keep a copy of the application with yourself. The postmaster will ask you to sign in a register and will provide a receiving letter. The entire process of filing an RTI costs just Rs.10 and will consume an hour. But, its result may be transforming. The applicant is supposed to receive the information on the given mailing address within 30 days plus 5 days (postal transaction). If the information is not sought within 35 days, the applicant can write to the appellate authority.

If we have a ‘none of the above’ button in the Electronic Voting Machines, we can reject all candidates and threaten the politicians to distribute tickets on the basis of competency. To meet this demand, People’s Union for Civil Liberties had filed Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in 2004. In 2009, a Supreme Court bench referred the matter to a higher bench. It has been 2 years and no decision yet. I have filed a RTI in the Supreme Court asking for the reason behind the delay in decision. If you believe in the reform, please add to the pressure by filing the RTI. It will take an hour and Rs.10 to do the same but its results may be tremendous. To check the details on Supreme Court website, click http://judis.nic.in/supremecourt/chejudis.asp Case no 161 Writ Petition (Civil) Year: 2004