CIC Advocates transparency in sports bodies, 2036 Olympics ambition

NDTV: New Delhi: Wednesday, 7^Th January 2026.
Information related to sports federations and associations recognised by the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports should be proactively disclosed on the ministry's website to ensure transparency and accountability, the CIC has directed.

Information related to sports federations and associations recognised by the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports should be proactively disclosed on the ministry's website to ensure transparency and accountability, the CIC has directed. Underlining the country's aspirations to host the 2036 Summer Olympics, Information Commissioner P R Ramesh said transparent functioning of sports bodies will strengthen India's sporting ecosystem manifold.
The Central Information Commission (CIC) made the observation while hearing a Right to Information (RTI) petition by Sacheen Gandhi seeking details of the recognition status of various sports federations like All India Carrom Federation, Kho-kho Federation of India, Amateur Kabbadi Federation of India, Squash Rackets Federation of India and Softball Association of India.
While holding that the ministry had provided an appropriate reply under the RTI Act, the CIC emphasised that proactive disclosure of such information would reduce citizens' dependence on RTI applications for accessing basic and vital details.
"As India aspires to host the 2036 Summer Olympics, marking a huge step in the country's rise as a sports superpower, the transparent functioning of sports bodies will strengthen India's sporting ecosystem manifold," Ramesh said.
Referring to Section 4 of the RTI Act, the Commission said every public authority must make constant efforts to place maximum information in the public domain through various means, including the internet.
"Voluntary disclosure of all information that ought to be displayed in the public domain should be the rule and members of the public seeking information through RTI application should be an exception," it observed.
The CIC noted that an open government, which is the core objective of the RTI Act, can be realised only when public authorities comply with proactive disclosure norms and update their websites at regular intervals.
Advising the sports ministry to ensure regular updates on recognised sports federations and associations, the Commission said such disclosures would enhance transparency, disseminate correct information and also obviate the need for filing RTI applications on matters of public importance.
The appeal was disposed of with no further action, though the Commission advised the ministry to proactively disclose information related to recognised sports bodies going forward.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

‘Habitual RTI applicant took bribes from officials to withdraw applications’: Odisha Information Commission approaches police : Written by Sujit Bisoyi

The Indian Express: Article: Wednesday, 7^Th January 2026.
He has filed hundreds of RTI applications at various departments, which are being adjudicated in different stages, officials said

His method for allegedly extracting money from PIOs included requesting the commission for adjournment of cases during hearings, and after receiving the bribe, he would withdraw the cases, said the official.
An alleged demand for a bribe to withdraw applications filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act has put an activist in the dock, with the Odisha Information Commission asking police to probe the matter.
The commission’s Registrar has written a letter to Odisha’s Director General of Police, asking for an inquiry to be conducted into the alleged bribe demand by “habitual RTI applicant” Tankadhar Sahu, who is based in Balangir.
As per the commission, it received a complaint last week, along with a video clip, wherein Sahu was allegedly seen demanding a bribe from public information officers (PIOs) for withdrawing his RTI applications.
On scrutiny of records, it was seen that Sahu had filed hundreds of RTI applications at various departments, which are being adjudicated in different stages, officials said. He had started camping in Bhubaneswar and regularly demanded bribes from PIOs and first appellate authorities, who visited the Commission’s office for hearings, a senior officer at the Information Commission’s office alleged.
His method for allegedly extracting money from PIOs included requesting the commission for adjournment of cases during hearings, and after receiving the bribe, he would withdraw the cases, said the official.
“The matter was brought before the full Bench of the commission, where it was decided to refer the matter to police authorities along with the video clip as evidence,” read a note by the Registrar.
According to the Registrar, the commission has also decided to keep all of Sahu’s cases pending till the police inquiry is completed. The commission further directed all PIOs and first appellate authorities to keep his cases pending and to identify other such cases where RTI Act provisions were misused.
Police sources said that as directed by the commission, a formal complaint would be lodged soon and a probe would be initiated into the allegations.
Sahu couldn’t be contacted for a comment on the matter.

Punjab RTI activist, journalists move HC for quashing of helicopter use FIR

Times of India: Chandigarh: Tuesday, 6^Th January 2026.
Four individuals, including an RTI activist and journalists, knocked on the doors of the Punjab and Haryana high court, seeking the quashing of an FIR registered against them for allegedly spreading misinformation over the use of the Punjab chief minister's official helicopter.

In their petition before the HC, they challenged FIR No 67 registered at the cybercrime police station, Ludhiana. The FIR invoked Sections 353(1), 353(2) and 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), provisions related to public mischief, promotion of disharmony and criminal conspiracy.
According to the petitioners, the FIR stemmed from a social media post by Manik Goyal, a law student and RTI activist, who raised questions about the movement of a helicopter allotted to the CM on Dec 8, when the CM was on a visit to Japan. Goyal relied on publicly accessible flight-tracking data from an app (internet platform) and questioned who used the helicopter during the CM's absence.
The issue gained traction after journalists Baljinder Singh alias Mintu Gurusaria, Maninderjeet Singh, and Mandeep Singh Makkar reported on the matter and discussed the lack of official clarification regarding the helicopter's use. The petitioners maintained that their actions were part of legitimate journalistic inquiry and public-interest reporting.
The FIR was registered on a complaint by police inspector Satbir Singh, and did not cite any private complainant. While the FIR acknowledged the helicopter flew on the stated date and was used by a constitutional functionary, it did not disclose the identity of the person or the purpose of the flights.
In their plea, the petitioners argued that raising questions on the use of public resources and sharing publicly available information was protected under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution, which guaranteed freedom of speech and expression. They alleged that the FIR was "mala fide" and intended to intimidate journalists and suppress dissent.
The petition also pointed to earlier RTI applications filed by Goyal in 2024 seeking details of govt expenditure on aircraft, which were denied citing security exemptions. Despite appeals, no information was furnished, prompting the reliance on open-source data, the plea stated. The matter is expected to be taken up before the high court next week. The petitioners also sought a stay on further proceedings during the pendency of the case.

Why is transparency underfunded?

The Island.lk: Sri Lanka: Tuesday, 6^Th January 2026.

The RTI Commission has now confirmed what many suspected although the RTI Act grants it independence to recruit staff, this authority is rendered toothless because the Treasury controls the purse strings. The Commission is left operating with inadequate manpower, limiting its institutional growth even as it struggles to meet rising public demand for information.
This raises an uncomfortable question: if the Treasury can repeatedly allocate billions to loss-making State-Owned Enterprises some of which continue to hemorrhage public funds without reform why is adequate funding for the RTI Commission treated as optional?
Strengthening transparency is not a luxury. It is the foundation of good governance. Every rupee spent on effective oversight helps prevent many more rupees being wasted through inefficiency, misuse, or opaque decision-making.
In such a context, can one really fault those who argue that restricting the Commission’s resources conveniently limits disclosures that may prove politically inconvenient? Whether deliberate or not, the outcome is the same: weaker accountability, reduced public scrutiny, and a system where opacity is easier than openness.
If the government is serious about reform, it must start by funding the institutions that keep it honest. Investing in RTI is not an expense it is a safeguard for the public purse and the public trust.

DPDP Rules: Strengthening Privacy or Enabling Surveillance? - Prabir Purkayastha

News Click: National: Tuesday, 6^Th January 2026.
We might have got rid of the Sanchar Sathi app on our phones, but surveillance by other means will continue under the DPDP Act and its Rules.

After a gap of 2½ years, we now have certain sections of the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, backed by the Rules, ready for immediate implementation. While the State’s powers to surveil citizens come into effect immediately, the sections that protect citizens' privacy against big data companies and the state (or correct/delete incorrect data) have to wait another 18 months. Some data protection indeed!
The long journey that started with the privacy judgement eight years ago the landmark Puttuswamy Judgement has now resulted in codifying via the DPDP Act and now the Rules, not the privacy rights of citizens, but the unfettered rights of the State to monitor the digital footsteps of its citizens.
The digital space is no longer one we access only on our computers. The use of mobile phones, particularly with the rapid decline in their cost, means even those who do not really know about the internet now use it extensively via Google-YouTube (Google), Facebook-Insta-WhatsApp (Meta) for entertainment or to communicate with others.
A survey by the National Statistical Office shows that more than 90% of Indian households have access to smartphones and the internet within the household/home. Therefore, digital privacy is no longer a concern only of a small, middle-class elite but of every user of any digital device mobile or computer that can connect to the internet and, therefore, can be tracked and have its communications monitored.
The primary objective of any Data Protection Act, and therefore of the rules, should be to protect the users’ fundamental rights, which, after the Supreme Court’s Puttuswamy Judgement, also includes the right to privacy. To capture freedom and its limitation pithily: your freedom to swing your fist stops where my nose begins. It is from this simple principle that the concept of a private space has been derived and extended to a wide range of other matters, such as marriage and various personal choices.
The Puttuswamy Judgement further extended the concept of physical space, the basis of privacy, to digital space as well. However, whether in the physical or digital sphere, privacy is not absolute; the State can monitor its citizens, but any such surveillance must be necessary, proportionate, and use the least intrusive option, with strong safeguards.
Once the Puttaswamy Judgement established that privacy, including digital privacy, is a fundamental right, and that any invasion of our digital space can only be done through lawful means. What the DPDP Rules have done is to provide the government with a virtually blank cheque to surveil citizens in the digital space. Under the Rules, it can ask any digital platform, including telecom companies, to provide data on any user.
Akhil Yadav writes in Article 14 that the DPDP Rules create “a new digital regime that hobbles the very rights meant to protect citizens, to the State’s advantage.” Instead of a robust regime protecting citizens' digital rights, we have one that facilitates the State’s monitoring of citizens in digital space.
The second set of rights concerns users' rights against the misuse of their data by the Act's data fiduciaries: telecom companies that provide internet services, as well as multinational platforms like Google and Meta. If the data of these companies is held abroad, they could argue that since their servers are in the US (or Ireland), any such access has to comply with the host country’s laws as well. This is why the government had earlier asked for data localisation, requiring that Indian data be held in India.
However, the Rules notified appear to have left the data localisation issue open, meaning major players, such as Google and Facebook, hold the data of their Indian users abroad in “trusted countries”. If data is held abroad, it becomes more difficult for Indian users to enforce their digital rights against global giants like Google and Meta.
The DPDP Rules also do not protect journalists. In the European Union, the General Data Protection Regulation provides a specific journalistic exception (Article 85) that exempts journalistic activities from specific data protection requirements to safeguard press freedom. The earlier versions (2019 to 2021) of the DPDP Act had this specific exception, which no longer exists in the current version of the Act or the Rules.
The Editors' Guild, in its Statement dated November 19, had stated that in July 2025, the Secretary of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) had held a meeting with press bodies and assured them that such journalistic work would not fall within the purview of the DPDP Act. “However, there has been no official response since then, and the notified Rules do not alleviate these concerns...The Editors Guild urges Meity to urgently issue a clear and categorical clarification exempting bona fide journalistic activity from the consent and processing requirements of the Act. In the absence of such clarity, confusion and over-compliance will weaken press freedom and obstruct the media’s essential role in a democratic society...The Guild reiterates that data protection and privacy are vital objectives, but they must be balanced with the constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech and the public’s right to know.”
For journalists, the RTI Act has been a major forensic tool to track corruption. The government has now created a loophole that effectively defangs RTI for journalists or any citizen to trace corruption and misuse of government funds, by creating a privacy exception: any data the government wants to deny can be withheld under this provision.
The last nail in the coffin of citizens’ privacy is what the Rules prescribe for the Privacy Appellate Authority. The Ministry will choose the Appellate Authority and has limited powers, unlike, for example, the TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India).
As Aakriti Bansal writes in Medianama, “DPDP Act gives the Board adjudicatory powers with narrow boundaries. It can receive complaints, examine breach reports, call for information, issue directions, and impose penalties. It cannot write subordinate legislation, define technical standards, or run public consultations.” Effectively, it is a subordinate body to the Ministry with minimal latitude, with not even its own budget.
We might have got rid of the Sanchar Sathi, the app on our phones that would constantly monitor our activities, but surveillance by other means, though not of the same order, will continue under the DPDP Act and its Rules. The fight for our digital rights is very much a part of our larger struggle for safeguarding our constitutional rights against the authoritarian structure that the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party government wants to create.

RTI Uncovers Rs. 4.76 Crore Govt. Spending on GST Reforms Advertisements Amid Ongoing Compliance Struggles : Saloni Kumari

Study Cafe: National: Tuesday, 6^Th January 2026.
RTI reveals the Government spent Rs. 4.76 crore of taxpayers’ money on advertising GST “reforms” to promote corrections made after years of GST-related problems.

According to the information received under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, the Government of India has spent a total of Rs. 4.76 crore of public money on advertisements (like print media, electronic media, social media, hoardings, and billboards) related to GST reforms, named as “GST Reforms Bachat Utsav.” As per the declaration, this spending has been done to promote amendments and corrections introduced to the nation’s GST system in the time period between September 04, 2025, and October 28, 2025.
The Central Bureau of Communication (CBC), operating under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, had sought information under the RTI Act 2005. The reply of RTI has clarified that the CBC on behalf of the Government of India has spent a total of Rs. 4.76 crore as of now on advertisements in regard to GST reforms (also known as Bachat Utsav) promotion during the said period. The RTI application was submitted on November 20, 2025, and the reply was issued on December 24, 2025.
The serious concern here is that the government has spent this massive amount on advertisements just to highlight “reforms” and “savings” under GST, despite several of these amendments being introduced to resolve issues created by the government’s own flawed GST rollout.
Taxpayers, professionals, and businesses were tackling a convoluted GST system from years of frequent rule changes, technical glitches, and compliance burdens under GST. Instead of admitting these failures and working on improving these bottlenecks, the government chose to spend crores on self-promotion.
Several individuals on social media are criticizing this action of the government and raising the argument that this money belongs to taxpayers and should be utilized in reducing compliance costs, improving GST infrastructure, or compensating small businesses that suffered due to constant changes.
Further arguments have been raised highlighting that the government has spent this large amount on promoting advertisements just to praise their corrections and mistakes made in the past, which appears to be a complete waste of money, especially at a time when many small traders and professionals are still struggling with GST-related issues.
The RTI reply also mentions that if the applicant is dissatisfied with the information provided, they are allowed to file an appeal before the Appellate Authority of the CBC within 30 days of receiving the RTI reply.

Sukhbir slams AAP govt for registering ‘false’ cases against journos, RTI activists

Times of India: Chandigarh: Monday, 5^Th January 2026.
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Sunday participated in a protest against the registration of alleged false cases implicating journalists and RTI activists.

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal

He appealed to the Punjabis to "fight this injustice tooth and nail" and assured that the SAD would extend all the support to "the journalists and RTI activists who were framed in false cases".
Speaking during the protest, where journalists and RTI activists had gathered to condemn the ruling Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab for the registration of a case against RTI activist Manik Goyal and social media influencers for questioning the use of the state helicopter while chief minister Bhagwant Mann was on visit to Japan and Korea, Badal said: "The AAP govt thinks it can browbeat Punjabis with these tactics, but it should know that Punjabis have always stood up to injustice and will rise as one against the AAP govt also."
Emphasising that "the fight has transformed into a people's fight", Badal said: "The journalists and RTI activists who were framed in false cases were highlighting the loot of the resources of Punjab at the hands of Arvind Kejriwal."
He said: "The SAD also filed RTI applications to expose the manner in which the state helicopter was being misused, but the AAP govt consistently denied information on the same."
Alleging that "Arvind Kejriwal is looting Punjab like the East India Company by campaigning across the country at the expense of the Punjab govt", the Akali leader said: "Aeroplanes with 20-seater capacity are booked regularly to ferry Kejriwal to other states. CM Bhagwant Mann is also included in the entourage to ensure the Punjab govt pays the bill."
"Similarly, Punjab govt officials were travelling to Delhi constantly to take commands from Kejriwal, even as AAP workers were posted with ministers at govt expense," he added.
"Against an annual budget of Rs 30-35 crore during the SAD tenure, the AAP govt was spending more than Rs 1,000 crore per year on advertisements and has already spent Rs 4,500 crore under this head till now,", he said, adding "never has so much money been spent for self-publicity in the history of the sate".
Alleging the registration of false cases, including the "one against senior SAD leader Parambans Singh Romana", the senior leader said: "A retired CBI officer was entrusted with the power to direct the registration of these FIRs." He further alleged: "The officer also listed the sections under which the FIRs were to be registered, and any police officer not heeding to these commands was suspended."
Badal said: "The SAD always gave due respect to the media. Former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal always stood for freedom of the press. In stark contrast, the AAP leaders are behaving like thugs by registering cases against anyone who writes against them."

India's transparency body refuses to disclose exporter-wise limestone trade data with Bangladesh

The Business Standard: New Delhi: Monday, 5^Th January 2026.
The CIC noted that disclosure of exporter-specific trade volumes could “provide their competitors with strategic insight into their commercial activities” and thereby harm their competitive position

Tamabil Land Port in Sylhet. Photo: TBS

India's transparency watchdog has upheld a decision not to disclose exporter-wise details of limestone shipments to Bangladesh from the northeastern state of Meghalaya, ruling that the information is protected under the commercial confidence provisions of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
The Central Information Commission (CIC) said there was no overriding public interest in making the data public and that disclosure could potentially harm the competitive position of the exporters concerned.
Meghalaya, a mineral resource-rich state sharing a 443km international border with Bangladesh, regularly exports limestone and boulders to the neighbouring country, making cross-border mineral trade a significant economic activity.
In its order, the CIC said releasing the information would contravene Section 8(1)(d) of the RTI Act, which exempts disclosure of commercial information that could harm the competitive position of third parties.
RTI applicant W Mathew Mawdkhap had sought "the name and address of the exporters who exported limestone to Bangladesh through Bholaganj Land Customs Station in East Khasi Hills, bordering Bangladesh, during the financial year 2023–24" from the office of the Deputy Commissioner, Shillong Customs Division.
The request was denied, citing Section 8(1)(d) of the RTI Act.
Mawdkhap's first appeal was also dismissed, prompting him to move the Central Information Commission with a second appeal challenging both earlier decisions.
Rejecting the appeal, Information Commissioner Vinod Kumar Tiwari said the information sought related to the names and addresses of exporters and the quantity of limestone exported to Bangladesh during the 2023–24 financial year.
Such exporter-wise trade data, the Commission held, "constitutes commercial information that is ordinarily treated as confidential within commercial and regulatory frameworks".
The CIC noted that disclosure of exporter-specific trade volumes could "provide their competitors with strategic insight into their commercial activities" and thereby harm their competitive position.
The Commission further observed that regulatory authorities receive commercial information from private entities in a fiduciary capacity as part of statutory compliance. "Releasing such information indiscriminately in the public domain would undermine the trust and confidentiality expected in such interactions," it said.
During the hearing, the appellant did not appear before the Commission and failed to place any material on record to establish an overriding public interest, Tiwari noted.
"In the absence of any such justification, the Commission finds no reason to disturb the concurrent findings of the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) and the First Appellate Authority (FAA)," the order said.
The customs department had argued that exporter-wise limestone export data to Bangladesh is not meant for public dissemination unless required by law or disclosed with the consent of the concerned third parties.
Finding no infirmity in the denial of information, the CIC ruled that the exemption invoked was "legally sustainable" and dismissed the appeal.

Welfare state | India's road to rights : Published By: Yashwardhan Singh

India Today: 50th-anniversary-special: Sunday, 4^Th January 2026.
In this decade, India transformed welfare into legal entitlements through RTI, MGNREGA, Aadhaar and food security, expanding citizenship rights but failing to dismantle caste and minority disadvantage

JOB GUARANTEE: Road construction project workers
under MGNREGA in Bastar district, Chhattisgarh, Nov. 2012
 (Photo: Suvashis Mullick)

The decade stands out as one of the most ambitious phases of socio-economic lawmaking since Independence. It was an era when the Indian State sought to redefine its relationship with citizens by moving decisively from welfare as discretion to welfare as entitlement. These laws did not merely redistribute resources. They reshaped expectations, redefined rights and altered the grammar of governance itself.
The turning point came in 2005 with the Right to Information (RTI) Act. For the first time, access to government records was no longer a privilege mediated by power, but a statutory right vested in the citizen. RTI cracked open the opaque architecture of the Indian State and forced officials, politicians and institutions into an unprecedented culture of explanation. It also became the backbone of civil society activism and investigative journalism, exposing corruption and inefficiency across sectors. RTI did not clean up the system, but it fundamentally altered the balance of power between the State and the citizen.

CITIZEN WATCH: Social activist Aruna Roy demanding
public audit and transparency in MGNREGA works in
Jaipur, Dec. 2009 (Photo: Purushottam Diwakar)

In the same year, Parliament enacted the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. By making employment a legal right for rural households, the law attempted to provide income security at the bottom of the pyramid while creating durable rural assets. While plagued by leakages and uneven implementation, MGNREGA changed rural labour markets, raised wage floors and gave political voice to the poor.
The next major leap came with Aadhaar, launched in 2009. Conceived as a biometric identity platform, it sought to solve a persistent problem of Indian governance: the inability of the State to accurately identify beneficiaries. By assigning a unique identity linked to fingerprints and iris scans, Aadhaar promised to eliminate ghost beneficiaries and enable direct benefit transfers. Over time, Aadhaar became the backbone of India’s digital welfare architecture, enabling subsidy reform, financial inclusion, and portability of benefits. At the same time, it raised profound questions about privacy, surveillance and State power that continue to animate constitutional debate.
The rights-based framework reached its most expansive expression with the National Food Security Act of 2013. By legally entitling nearly two-thirds of India’s population to subsidised food grains, the state assumed responsibility for protecting citizens against hunger at a scale never attempted before. Critics questioned its fiscal sustainability and efficiency, but its political logic was unmistakable.
Yet, beneath this architecture of empowerment, older social fractures remained stubbornly intact. Caste hierarchies and minority deprivation continued to shape lived realities. The mid-2000s saw intense agitation over the extension of OBC reservations to higher education. The expansion of quotas produced new anxieties, new agitations and new fault lines without resolving the core problem of unequal access to quality education and employment. Similarly, due to the stark educational divide between Muslims and non-Muslims, a large section of Muslim youth risked being excluded from the educated workforce, with potentially explosive social consequences.
The paradox of the decade is therefore stark. Welfare laws expanded access, but they did not dismantle structural disadvantage rooted in history, discrimination and geography.

Questions over Gram Sabha records for Vedanta’s Sijimali Bauxite project in Odisha : Mahmodul Hassan

Frontline Magazine: Environment: Sunday, 4^Th January 2026.
Villagers say meetings never took place; consent documents carry names of minors, deceased persons, and non-residents.

Women belonging to Adivasi and other forest-dwelling communities
gather inSagubari to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day on
August 9, 2025. In the same event, they collectively
denounced any mining projects. | Photo Credit: Mahmoudl Hassan

On December 8, 2023, a Friday infused with the chill of early winter, Pabitra Naik received word that a police battalion was headed towards his village. Like many others in Bundel, located in the verdant Sijimali hills of southern Odisha, the 35-year-old fled into the forests. A bauxite mine had been proposed nearby, and police often detained anyone who vocally opposed it, Pabitra said. From his vantage point in the forest, he saw four buses and over 10 large vehicles ferrying policemen and officials, trailed by civilians on 15 motorcycles. After the posse left that evening, Pabitra and others returned home.
The next day, their phones buzzed with calls and messages. Local media had reported that the district administration had “successfully” conducted Gram Sabhas (village councils) across 10 villages, including Bundel.
“There was no notice of a Gram Sabha, and no one in the village attended it. Only the women were in the village, and they told us that the police had brought people from Kashipur who were holding posters. Police and officials clicked photographs and videos,” Pabitra said.
Documents obtained from the district administration through the Right to Information Act show that these Gram Sabhas—whose approvals are mandatory under law to grant mining permissions—had “unanimously consented” to the diversion of large tracts of forest land for the proposed bauxite mine. The documents also show that Pabitra participated in the Bundel Gram Sabha and consented to the project.
Pabitra saw his signature for the first time in mid-2025 when this reporter showed him the “official Gram Sabha resolution”. A look of shock came on his face. “It is fake,” he told Frontline.
‘Fictitious residents’ and forged signatures
This investigation into resolutions from 10 villages finds forgeries and fraud in the consent documents “obtained” from Gram Sabhas to divert 708 hectares of forest land to the mining giant Vedanta for its bauxite mine.
Documents show signatures of villagers who deny having attended meetings. They also list minors, people who died years before the Gram Sabha, and persons who have never lived in these villages.
RTI documents show official notices for the Gram Sabha at the eight villages of Rayagada district, including Bundel, were issued on November 23, 2023. But across all the villages, residents denied receiving any notices or holding any Gram Sabha on December 8, 2023. There is no evidence—no witnesses, no documentation—to substantiate that Gram Sabhas actually took place in these eight villages.
In the two villages falling in the Kalahandi district, RTI documents show notices were issued. Residents there said they received none. Villagers said that on the date of the purported Gram Sabha, police and officials arrived, told them it was for “developmental works” in the village, and took their signatures without explaining that this would be treated as formal consent for forest diversion. These villages, through subsequent resolutions, called the proceedings “coerced and fraudulent”.
The resolutions also show that all eight Gram Sabhas in Rayagada occurred on the same date—December 8, 2023—at the same time—10 a.m.—and in the presence of the same officials.
In Pabitra’s village, Bundel, the minutes of the Gram Sabha “meeting” show that 103 persons “consented” to divert the forest land. Among them are Pabitra Naik, his wife Jashoda Naik, and his mother Radhika Naik. There are no signatures—just their names listed. In the column for Pabitra’s signature, Jashoda’s name is written; for Radhika’s signature, only her name appears. All three denied attending any Gram Sabha or giving consent to mining.
In the same village, the Gram Sabha resolution lists Prabash Naik and Srikant Majhi, with their signatures in Odia. Prabash Naik is 10 and Srikant is 7. Minors are not eligible to participate in a Gram Sabha or consent to mining projects.
“What kind of government puts names of children in these documents?” said a stunned Surumani Naik, Prabash’s father, a 50-year-old landless labourer in Bondili. While he had heard of forged signatures in the Gram Sabha, he did not know his son was among the signatories until this reporter showed him the resolution. “My son is in Class 3. He does not know how to sign. He did not attend any Gram Sabha,” Surumani told Frontline.
Srikant’s father Ratan Singh also looked shocked at his son’s signature. “My son is in Class 1. He can’t even sign.”
Such irregularities are peppered across the resolution documents. Of the eight Gram Sabhas that allegedly “gave consent”, Frontline followed up with six.
In Kantamal village, less than a kilometre from Bondili, one Lokanath Naik has consented to the mining by affixing his thumb impression. Villagers point out that Lokanath died years before the Gram Sabha was purportedly held.
“Loknath died at least five years ago. He used to grow mangoes. His land is still here, but his family left the village,” said Suba Singh Majhi, a resident of Kantamal and president of Maa Maati Mali Suraksha Manch, a local organisation opposing the bauxite project.
At nearby Aliguna village, the signature of the long-deceased Bira Singh Majhi appears in the Gram Sabha resolution. “His family now lives in another village, and I’m sure they have not come to the village during that day to sign on his behalf,” said Hurti Majhi, a retired teacher who now farms there.

On August 9, 2025, communities from the
10 villages gathered in Sagubari village to celebrate
 International Day of the World’s Indigenous
Peoples.| Photo Credit: Mahmoudul Hassan

Hurti Majhi is the president of Aliguna’s Forest Rights Committee and has been vocal about his opposition to the mining. “If they mine here, our waterfalls and streams will dry up. The medicinal plants we depend on will disappear. We will lose everything.”
Yet even Hurti’s name—and thumb impression—appear in the Gram Sabha resolution. Hurti said no such Gram Sabha was held. “I would have never attended it and definitely would not have given consent.”
At Aliguna, the scale of the forgery is striking. Of the 85 signatures, Frontline verified at least 16 belonging to “fictional residents” who, villagers said, have never lived in the village. The remaining signatures are of villagers who deny signing the resolution.
Dharam Singh Majhi, a farmer, was stunned to see his name on the Gram Sabha document at Serial No. 3. Against it is a thumb impression. “I can easily sign in Odia. I do not know how my name came here, and whose thumb impression it is. I’m going mad seeing this,” he said, adding that he was in Kerala for construction work on that date.
All the villages later passed resolutions stating that no Gram Sabha took place on the said date and that the alleged Gram Sabhas from December 8 were fraudulent. Frontline used Aadhaar cards of villagers to match and verify names. The mentioned persons were the only ones in the respective villages with those names. For the deceased, villagers whom Frontline interviewed in groups of 15-20 repeatedly confirmed the deaths, well before the purported Gram Sabhas.
A mining proposal gains steam
In February-March 2023, the Odisha government declared Vedanta the preferred bidder for the Sijimali bauxite block and granted the mining multinational a lease for 1,548 hectares of land. This includes 708 hectares of forest land in Rayagada and Kalahandi districts. The open-cast mine—the surface of the hill and its forests will be blasted out and excavated—will extract 9 million tonnes of bauxite annually.
In May 2023, the company was asked to obtain compliance certificates, mandated under the Forest Rights Act, 2006, as per the Odisha Forest Department. This includes consent for diversion of forest land through a resolution from Gram Sabhas, at which at least 50 per cent of all adults in the village have to be present. The Act was enacted to recognise and vest forest rights of forest‑dwelling Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers, to correct historical injustice, and to secure their livelihoods, culture and role in conservation.
In the hills, unrest and protest had broken out. In August 2023, villagers in Lakris physically blocked company officials and police from entering the hills. Police arrested nearly two dozen Adivasi and Dalit villagers on charges of rioting, kidnapping, attempted murder, and criminal intimidation. In October 2023, public hearings—mandatory for environmental clearance—were conducted with large crowds denouncing the project and stating their fear of the loss of forests, streams, livelihoods, and sacred sites.
“People realised that any threat to the hills is a threat to their life and livelihood. We were never ready to give any consent. We had vowed to protect the sacred hills at any cost,” said Fulsingh Majhi, 28, farmer and resident of Kantamal village, who took part in the protests. The anger and protests intensified as villagers realised that the proposal was gaining steam, Fulsingh said.
Then, on December 8, 2023, the authorities claimed that eight Gram Sabhas had given “unanimous approval”. By June 2024, Vedanta resubmitted its completed proposal to the Centre.
In a report to the Centre on August 13, 2025, the District Collector for Rayagada stated that “eight Gram Sabhas were convened separately, strictly ensuring compliance of the provisions of the FRA”. It was attended “by the designated state officials as per the rules viz, the Sarpanch, Sunger Gram Panchayat, and Block Development Officer, Executive Officer-Sunger GP, Block Social Security Officer (BSSO), Panchayat Executive Officer (PEO), whose presence was duly recorded in the resolutions.”
In September 2024, months after news of the fraudulent resolutions reached the villages, the Sarpanch of Sunger Gram Panchayat released a statement saying she had not signed any of the resolutions.
A pattern of violations
Violations relating to Gram Sabha consents for large projects, particularly mining, are not uncommon. A 2024 report by the Comptroller and Auditor General found 126 violations in land acquisitions for mining and development projects in Odisha. These included bypassing consent from Gram Sabhas or brushing aside Gram Sabha resolutions objecting to projects.

Women in Kantamal village. Vedanta Limited’s
 proposal relies on forged village consent,
threatening tribal lands and ecosystems.
| Photo Credit: Mahmodul Hassan

Outright forgeries are relatively rare. In November 2024, the State Scheduled Tribes Commission in Chhattisgarh flagged consent violations in the clearance obtained for a coal mining project in the Hasdeo Arand forest, which included forged documents and inflated attendance figures at Gram Sabha meetings.
Arpitha Kodiveri, an environmental law and justice scholar who has worked on mining and Gram Sabha consents and is an assistant professor of political science at Vassar College in the United States, warned that such practices risk normalising illegalities. “You create a precedent where such a violation is normalised, and it starts to create an unhealthy legal practice. It’s the first-time advantage of ‘we did this and got away with it,’ and evades accountability,” she said. This can increase extraction in tribal-dominated areas, Kodiveri added.
At Sijimali, the forgeries were discovered only after copies of the resolution were obtained by activists and community leaders using the RTI Act in 2024.
Between August 30 and September 4, 2024, special Gram Sabhas convened across 10 villages in Rayagada and Kalahandi districts called the December 8, 2023, resolutions “fraudulent” and “coerced”. The new resolutions unanimously rejected consent for diverting forest lands, noting the villagers’ religious, cultural, and linguistic rights over the sacred Sijimali Hills.
Of particular note were the Gram Sabhas held in Katibhata and Pelanakona villages. A December 2023 resolution stated that these villages had “no residents.” But while there are no permanent residents, around 48 families cultivate lands there. They too held a Gram Sabha denouncing the “fraudulent” older resolution.
In February 2025, two Gram Panchayats (which encompass all 10 villages) moved a petition in Odisha High Court seeking to quash the Gram Sabha resolutions and Forest Rights Act compliance certificates issued to Vedanta by district authorities.
In its response, the State government said the proceedings were recorded on video and the petitioners were present. The court did not “want to be drawn into this dispute on facts,” and in a March 2025 order, disposed of the writ petition stating that the Centre “must take note.”
A month later, with no action taken on the fresh Gram Sabha resolutions and without noting the villagers’ objections, the Odisha government and Vedanta sent the proposal to divert 708 hectares of forest land to the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) constituted by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. The committee accords final consent for forest land diversion.
As part of the submissions, the State government submitted detailed reports compiled by the District Collectors of Rayagada and Kalahandi claiming “the process has been completed in a fair and transparent manner.”
The FAC noted that “the reports are silent on the concerns raised by the people in their representations and in the petition before the Hon’ble Court.”
This was not the only concern recorded by the FAC. The State government’s submission claims there is “no endangered or rare” wildlife in the area, but the FAC noted—as repeatedly mentioned by the tribal communities in the public hearings—that elephants have been reported in the area.
On December 2, 2025, the FAC recommended Stage-I (in-principle) approval for diversion of 708.204 hectares of forest for Sijimali Bauxite Mines. A recommendation for Stage-I clearance means that the committee has agreed in principle to the diversion of forest land, subject to fulfilment of specific legal, environmental, and procedural conditions. No forest land can be diverted or mining activity commenced until final (Stage-II) approval is granted.
The committee’s minutes record that “several representations have been received alleging irregularities and fraudulent conduct of Gram Sabha proceedings”. It took note of the High Court judgment directing the Union government to consider the petitioners’ concerns. In compliance with the court’s directions, the State government forwarded the response of the District Collectors, who affirmed that “the entire FRA process, including Gram Sabha proceedings, was undertaken in a fair and transparent manner and in accordance with due procedure.”
The committee observed that “these confirmations from the statutory authorities form the basis of FRA compliance for the proposal.” On the ground in Sijimali, local residents and civil society groups continue to dispute this account, calling the Gram Sabhas “fake and coerced”. On 31 December 2025, while granting the stage-I approval, the Centre, as one of the specific conditions, mandated the State government to ensure complete compliance of the provisions of Forest Rights Act.
Frontline reached out to the District Magistrates of Rayagada and Kalahandi districts through phone, text, and email. Questions were sent to both officials and to Vedanta Ltd. over WhatsApp and email. No response had been received at the time of publication. This story will be updated when they respond.
Under police scanner
On August 8, 2025, when activists and communities prepared to celebrate the International Day of World’s Indigenous Peoples, the Rayagada district administration issued a prohibition order outlawing gathering and public assembly in the area. Pabitra did not flee into the forest this time. He and thousands of others defied the order and gathered at their hills—the site of the proposed mine—to mark the day. Administration drones flew overhead proclaiming the ban order. “It’s a day to state that we are one. We are united through this struggle,” Pabitra said.
Near him was a villager who was arrested in 2024 for a similar protest. He was out on bail. His bail conditions specifically bar him from taking part in protests or mass gatherings. That did not deter him. “These are our sacred hills. We will not let the mining companies destroy our world,” he said.
(Mahmodul Hassan is a Writing Fellow with Land Conflict Watch, an independent network of researchers conducting studies on natural resources.)

RTI filed seeking details on utilisation of Rs 5 crore MPLADS funds in Inner Manipur

Imphal Times: Manipur: Saturday, 03 January 2026.

Social activist Oinam Robart Singh has filed a Right to Information application seeking details on the utilisation of Rs 5 crore under the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) allocated to Inner Manipur Member of Parliament Dr Angomcha Bimol Akoijam for the financial year 2024–25.
The application was submitted to the Public Information Officer of Imphal West district, seeking transparency on the planning, implementation, and execution of works sanctioned under the MPLADS. The applicant has sought a comprehensive list of projects approved during the period, along with details of works completed so far.
In his application, Oinam Robart Singh has requested copies of work orders, utilisation certificates, completion reports, and particulars of the implementing agencies, wherever available. He has also sought information on the amounts sanctioned for each project, the expenditure incurred, and details of any complaints received or audits conducted in connection with the utilisation of the funds.
The applicant, whose address is listed as Bashikhong Torban Leikai in Imphal East district, has requested that the information be provided either in hard copy or through electronic means, and has furnished contact details for the same.
Dr Angomcha Bimol Akoijam, the Congress Member of Parliament from Inner Manipur, has earlier inaugurated several projects funded under the MPLADS, including drinking water plants and other public facilities in different parts of Imphal. The filing of the RTI application comes amid growing public scrutiny over the utilisation of MPLADS funds in Manipur, which has also been reflected in recent discussions on social media platforms.

Denial of limestone export data to Bangladesh justified no larger public interest CIC

 The Week: New Delhi: Saturday, 03 January 2026.
The Central Information Commission has upheld the denial of exporter-wise details of limestone sold to Bangladesh from Meghalaya, noting that the data attracts exemption under the commercial confidence clause.

It said such information could potentially harm the competitive position of the exporters concerned.
The transparency panel also noted that there was no larger public interest involved, which could override Section 8(1)(d) of the RTI Act, which exempts disclosure of information that could harm the competitive position of third parties.
RTI applicant W Mathew Mawdkhap had sought "the name and address of the exporters who exported limestone to Bangladesh through Bholaganj Land Customs Station, E Khasi Hills, during the financial year 2023-24" from the office of the Deputy Commissioner, Shillong Customs Division, which was denied, citing Section 8(1)(d) of the RTI Act.
His first appeal was also dismissed, following which he approached the Central Information Commission (CIC) with his second appeal and challenged the first two orders.
Dismissing his appeal, Information Commissioner Vinod Kumar Tiwari said details sought were related to the names and addresses of exporters and the quantity of limestone exported to Bangladesh during the financial year 2023-24.
Such exporter-wise trade data, the Commission held, "constitutes commercial information that is ordinarily treated as confidential within commercial and regulatory frameworks".
The CIC noted that disclosure of exporter-specific trade volumes could "provide their competitors with strategic insight into their commercial activities" and potentially harm their competitive position.
"Such information, by its very nature, contains business-sensitive particulars," the order said.
The CIC further observed that regulatory authorities receive commercial information from private entities in a fiduciary capacity as part of statutory compliance.
"Releasing such information indiscriminately in the public domain would undermine the trust and confidentiality expected in such interactions," it said.
During the hearing, the appellant did not appear before the Commission and failed to place any material on record to demonstrate an overriding public interest, Tiwari pointed out.
"In the absence of any such justification, the Commission finds no reason to disturb the concurrent findings of the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) and the First Appellate Authority (FAA)," the order said.
The customs department submitted that exporter-wise limestone export data to Bangladesh is not meant for public dissemination unless required by law or disclosed with the consent of the concerned third parties.
Finding no infirmity in the denial of information, the Commission held that the exemption invoked was "legally sustainable" and dismissed the appeal.
Trade between India's northeastern region and Bangladesh traditionally involves items such as limestone and stone chips.
Meghalaya, which is rich in mineral resources, exports limestone and boulders to Bangladesh, and shares a 443-km-long international border with the neighbouring country, making cross-border mineral trade an important economic activity in the state.
(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)

Awareness programme on RTI Act held in Eluru

The Hindu: National: Saturday, 03 January 2026.

An awareness programme was organised in Eluru to mark 20 years since the implementation of the Right to Information Act (RTI) and to highlight the importance of transparency and citizens’ rights, on Friday (January 01, 2026).
Speaking on the occasion, Appellate Authority under the RTI Act and District Forest Officer of Eluru district P.V. Sandeep Reddy said that every citizen should be aware of the provisions of Act to effectively exercise their right. He emphasised that the Act plays a vital role in strengthening democracy and ensuring accountability in governance.
As part of the programme, Mr. Reddy held a meeting with Public Information Officers (PIOs) and staff under his jurisdiction and explained the objectives, procedures, and responsibilities involved in implementing the Act. He also issued several guidelines to ensure timely and transparent disposal of RTI applications.
To mark the anniversary, an awareness seminar was followed by a rally from Ameenapet through Eluru town to educate the public on the significance of the RTI Act. Public Information Officers, departmental staff, and public participated in large numbers, making the programme a success.

‘Who used CM Bhagwant Mann’s chopper?’ RTI activist Manik Goyal, 9 others booked for social media posts with ‘distorted assertions’ : Written by Divya Goyal

The Indian Express: Chandigarh: Friday, 02 January 2026.
Manik Goyal claims the FIR is an attempt to stifle dissent and hide details about the unauthorised use of the aircraft during CM Bhagwant Mann's visit to Japan.

Ludhiana cybercrime police booked 10 people, including RTI
activist Manik Goyal, over Facebook posts questioning the
use of CM Bhagwant Mann’s helicopter during his foreign trip.
(Express Photo)

The Ludhiana police registered an FIR last month against 10 people, including RTI activist Manik Goyal, for allegedly posting “distorted and unverified content” after several Facebook posts questioned who was using Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s chopper while he was away on an official visit to Japan.
The FIR was registered at Ludhiana’s cybercrime police station on December 12, but surfaced Thursday. Besides Goyal, it names social media influencers Mintu Gurusaria, Gagan Ramgarhia, Harman Farmer, Mandeep Makkar, Gurlal S Mann, Snammu Dhaliwal, Arjan, Deep Mangil, and Lok Awaz TV.
Mann was on an official visit to Japan and South Korea from December 1 to 10. The accused allegedly posted visuals of his flying chopper purportedly taken during this period and questioned who was using it in the CM’s absence.
The case was filed on the complaint of Inspector Satbir Singh under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 353 (1) [making, publishing or circulating any statement, false information, rumour, or report, including through electronic means], 353 (2) [spreading false statements, rumors, or alarming news with intent to incite hatred or enmity between groups based on religion, race, etc], and 61 (2) [criminal conspiracy].
Vaibhav Sehgal, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Cybercrime), Ludhiana Police, said, “The probe in the matter is ongoing, and the FIR has been registered after preliminary investigation into the social media posts uploaded by the accused persons.”
Erroneous interpretation of flight-tracking data, claims FIR
According to the FIR, a copy of which is with The Indian Express, Inspector Satbir Singh, in his statement, said that “social media monitoring cell flagged several Facebook accounts which circulated objectionable posts”.
“A preliminary examination of the uploaded contents reveals that it comprises distorted, unverified and patently incorrect assertions pertaining to the deployment and utilisation of a helicopter allegedly associated with the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Punjab. The content is predicted upon erroneous and interpretation of flight-tracking data, selective presentation of extraneous visuals and insinuatory remarks bereft of factual foundation, thereby constructing a false, misleading and deliberately fabricated narrative,” reads the FIR.
“The aforesaid posts seek to create an impression that the helicopter in question was allegedly engaged in unauthorised or suspicious activities during the period when Honourable CM was on an official foreign visit,” it adds.
The FIR states that these insinuations are unfounded and contradict official records. The Civil Aviation Department of Punjab stated that the helicopter in question was utilised by an individual holding a constitutional office, and the person was duly authorised and empowered to use the aircraft for official purposes on the specified dates, it says.
“The pervasive circulation of this misleading material further poses a substantive risk of undermining institutional integrity, engendering social polarisation, and catalysing the spread of additional unverified narratives, thereby affecting public order and administrative harmony in the sensitive border state of Punjab,” adds the FIR.
The FIR further states, “Prima facie, the actions of accused persons constitute a cognisable offence.. The genuineness, accuracy and provenance of the impugned content shall be comprehensively examined during the investigation.”
Govt has given us a New Year gift: Manik Goyal
Reacting to the FIR, Mansa-based Manik Goyal said, “We have received a New Year gift from the Punjab government, a false FIR against me and others. We have been booked because we simply questioned who was using CM’s official chopper in his absence. It has been four years since the AAP government has not been replying to the RTIs related to the CM’s chopper, and if we ask on social media, then they register fake FIRs.”
“Earlier, we were also intimidated when we had asked some questions on tenders worth crores for buying an aircraft. What is there to hide regarding this helicopter and aircraft that the government is so scared to talk about? This is the same AAP government that used to talk about freedom of speech and expression and the right to dissent. Today, they are registering FIRs for asking questions,” he said.