Shanmughan Manjunath

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Shanmughan Manjunath (1978 Kolar-2005) was a marketing engineer for the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) who was murdered for opposing corruption in the erstwhile government firm's petrol pumps.

1 Education
2 Opposition to corruption and murder
3 Aftermath
- 3.1 The Manjunath Shanmugam Trust
4 Notes
- 4.1 See also

[edit] Education

Manjunath earned his engineering degree from Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering, Mysore, and an MBA from Indian Institute of Management Lucknow.

[edit] Opposition to corruption and murder

While working for the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) in Lucknow, he had ordered two petrol pumps at Lakhimpur Kheri sealed for selling adulterated fuel for three months. When the pump started operating again a month later, Manjunath decided to conduct a surprise raid around November 19, 2005.

Having not heard from his son for three days, at around 9 that night, his father, M Shanmughan, had sent an SMS: "How are you?". There was no reply because that very evening, during his inspection, Manjunath had been abducted, badly beaten up and eventually shot dead. His body, riddled with at least six bullets, was found in the backseat of his own car, which was being driven by two employees of the petrol pump. Both were arrested and the main accused, pump-owner Monu Mittal, was held on November 23 along with four others.

Manjunath's death came close on the heels of Satyendra Dubey's assassination, suspected to have been for similar reasons. Following the murder, there was immense media spotlight on the case. S. Manjunath's batchmates from IIM Lucknow (where he was affectionately called machan) also kept the story alive.

Investigations into the murder are going on.

[edit] Aftermath

Indian Oil Corporation paid Rs. 26 lakhs compensation to the family. The matter of adulteration in diesel was taken up by the Energy Coordination Committee chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. One of the policy remedies being considered is to minimize the subsidy in the price of kerosene (used as cooking fuel by the weaker classes), and to explore alternate mechanisms for implementing the subsidy. Subsequently, several tanker trucks, laden with thousands of liters of kerosene, were seized en route to a district neighbouring Lakhimpur Kheri ^[1].

[edit] The Manjunath Shanmugam Trust

A pan IIM initiative, "The Manjunath Shanmugam Trust" was registered early February. With immediate objectives of fighting the case, they have a broader agenda of improving governance in Indian public life.

Case Update The trial started on 5-7th June 2006, at the Lakhimpur Khiri Sessions Court; The Trustees have attended every hearing and ensured ongoing media attention. The Trust's team of lawyers is assisting the Govt. appointed Public Prosecutor. The last witness is being examined, and the High Court has directed that the case be finished by February 2007.

On 26th March 2007, the main accused Pawan Kumar Mittal was awarded death sentence, while the other seven accused were sentenced to life imprisonment.

[1]

Key Initiatives National Right To Information Act Helpline 9250-400-100 A 12*7 multi language Helpline, serviced by professionally trained call center agents. This guides citizens through the features of this powerful tool against corruption.

Manjunath Shanmugam Integrity Award. Carries a citation and a Rs. One Lakh Cash Award; to honour those who have reported and worked to rectify systemic corruption. First Manjunath Shanmugam Integrity Award awarded on March, 2007 to Prof. R.P. Singh, Vice Chancellor Lucknow University for his extraordinary courage in taking on criminals and politicians and clean up university student body elections by implementing Lyngdoh Committee recommendations. The award was given away in a public function by Chairman & Chief Mentor of Infosys Mr. N. R. Narayana Murthy.

[2]