RTI activism takes ugly turn : State info commissioner files FIR against activists
Sidharth
against activists
by Ashutosh Shukla DNA
Activism took an ugly turn on Tuesday evening with 11 Right to
Information (RTI) activists being arrested on charges of rioting and
obstructing work of a public servant.
The activists were arrested for storming into the Mantralaya cabin of
Dr Suresh Joshi, state chief information commissioner. Confirming the
arrests, Sanjay Amrute, senior police inspector with Marine Drive
police station said that the accused will be produced before a court
on Wednesday. Several IPC sections dealing with rioting and forceful
entry have been slapped on the activists.
Those arrested include Krishnaraj Rao, G R Vora, Mohammad Afzal, Sunil
Ahya, Vijay Chauhan, Mukund Parekh, Sanjay Ghatalia, KN Singh, Pramod
Kadam, Ravi Kiran Haldipur, and Dr Shrikant Prabhu.
The activists had come to observe the hearing of an appeal filed by Dr
Prabhu. Observing a hearing is allowed. However, once the hearing was
over, the activists sought an appointment with Joshi to discuss some
other issue. "We had not taken an appointment with Joshi because he
never gives us one. When we requested for a time, he first denied
saying he had to visit a doctor but later agreed," activist GR Vora
told DNA. "We wanted to point out that the information commission's
office is falsifying records," he added.
Once the activists entered Joshi's office, one of them wanted to sing
the National Anthem. As they began singing the anthem, Joshi objected
and refused to stand up saying that the activists were insulting the
National Anthem. "Joshi then lost his cool and called the police,"
claimed Krishnaraj Rao.
Contradicting the activists' statements, Joshi said that they started
singing the National Anthem in the courtroom itself. "This is
disrespectful to the National Anthem and they cannot hold the system
for ransom," he said justifying his move to call in the police. "I was
willing to hear them but they just refused to cooperate," he added.
Activists alleged that the police were not registering their counter
complaint against Joshi. "We want to file an FIR against him but they
are not even showing us the FIR they have registered against us.
Instead they are asking us to sign on some surrender/ arrest
document," said Rao.