Times of India: Gandhinagar: Wednesday, 12 March 2025.
Minister of state for home, Harsh Sanghavi, said in the assembly on Tuesday that the Right to Information (RTI) Act, enacted to bring transparency in govt functioning, was being used by some people to extort money.
Citing several instances of people claiming to be RTI activists using the law to extort money, Sanghavi said in the House that this year alone, 66 FIRs were filed against people using the RTI Act to threaten and extort people. He was responding to a "matter of public importance" raised by Surat BJP MLA Arvind Rana under rule 116 of the assembly procedures.
"We have to control this menace, and I urge all my fellow MLAs to collect documentary evidence against such unscrupulous elements and present them at the coordination committee meetings at their respective districts," Sanghavi said.
He added, "Also, there are instances of some so-called RTI activists who sit in govt offices. They do not have any other means of livelihood than filing RTIs and sitting in govt offices. The Gujarat police, the Anti-Corruption Bureau is preparing a list of such persons, and stringent action will be taken soon against such persons as well."
The minister said that a total of 41 cases were registered against people misusing the RTI Act in just a few days after Surat MLA Arvind Rana brought up the matter before Surat Police Commissioner Anupam Singh Gahlaut at the coordination committee meeting.
The minister alleged that in some instances, the accused individuals owned a newspaper, a portal, or a YouTube channel and used these to threaten and extort money. "Such persons make applications outside their scope of work, make videos of the information, and spread these with the sole aim of extorting money," he added.
Minister of state for home, Harsh Sanghavi, said in the assembly on Tuesday that the Right to Information (RTI) Act, enacted to bring transparency in govt functioning, was being used by some people to extort money.
Citing several instances of people claiming to be RTI activists using the law to extort money, Sanghavi said in the House that this year alone, 66 FIRs were filed against people using the RTI Act to threaten and extort people. He was responding to a "matter of public importance" raised by Surat BJP MLA Arvind Rana under rule 116 of the assembly procedures.
"We have to control this menace, and I urge all my fellow MLAs to collect documentary evidence against such unscrupulous elements and present them at the coordination committee meetings at their respective districts," Sanghavi said.
He added, "Also, there are instances of some so-called RTI activists who sit in govt offices. They do not have any other means of livelihood than filing RTIs and sitting in govt offices. The Gujarat police, the Anti-Corruption Bureau is preparing a list of such persons, and stringent action will be taken soon against such persons as well."
The minister said that a total of 41 cases were registered against people misusing the RTI Act in just a few days after Surat MLA Arvind Rana brought up the matter before Surat Police Commissioner Anupam Singh Gahlaut at the coordination committee meeting.
The minister alleged that in some instances, the accused individuals owned a newspaper, a portal, or a YouTube channel and used these to threaten and extort money. "Such persons make applications outside their scope of work, make videos of the information, and spread these with the sole aim of extorting money," he added.
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