RTI activist filed 213 applications seeking information on 1 subject; ZP recommends blacklisting his name

Aurangabad, Dec 7:

Chief executive officer (CEO) of Zilla Parishad (ZP) Nilesh Gatne recommended State Information Commissioner (SIC)-Aurangabad bench to blacklist an activist of Right to Information (RTI) Act for seeking information hundreds of times on one subject.

ZP senior official said that a criminal complaint would be lodged against the RTI activist concerned if he misuses it again.

According to details, Raibhan Ughade (Ramkripa Society) owns land at Mulani Wadgaon in Gangapur tehsil. He learnt about wrong entries in land documents. So, he collected documents and information related to land since 2015 under RTI Act and forced the administration to take action against gram sevak.

He has been seeking information from Panchayat Samiti Department of ZP since then. Raibhan Ughade submits an appeal with the appellate officer citing the reason that he was denied information by a junior officer.

He does not come for a hearing when the appellate officer and employees of the department remain present with the documents. Later, he makes a complaint with SIC directly about denying information. The SIC imposed a fine of Rs 1.15 lakh on information and appellate officers between 2015 to November 2021 because of his complaints. Ughade submitted 213 applications with the Panchayat Samit Dept of ZP during the last six years. He had submitted an appeal in 89 cases while a second appeal was made with SIC in 75 cases. Significantly, all the cases were related to the entry of the land of Mulani Wadgaon.

The activist was asked many times to collect information from the office free of cost, but, he did not turn up. If he remains present for a hearing, he argues with the employees and files applications frequently. The ZP employees have to remain busy with the appellate officer and SIC for the hearing. The officers brought the matter to the notice of the administration that this is affecting their daily work. So, the ZP administration requested the SIC to blacklist the activist.