Bangalore Mirror: Bangalore: Thursday, 16th
October 2025.
The Karnataka High Court
has refused to stay an order passed by the State Information Commissioner
blacklisting a man from filing applications under the Right to Information
(RTI) Act, observing that the court “cannot allow misuse of the RTI Act.”
Justice Suraj Govindaraj, while issuing notice to the state government and other respondents, directed the government advocate to place on record details of the applications filed by the petitioner and the kind of information he had sought.
The petitioner, Devaprasad K, had approached the High Court challenging the order dated January 28, by which the Karnataka State Information Commissioner had blacklisted and barred him from seeking any information under the RTI Act.
Appearing for the petitioner, counsel argued that more than 400 RTI applications had been filed on different subjects, and that there was no repetition or similarity in the queries raised. He contended that the petitioner had merely exercised his statutory right to seek information and that the Act imposed no limitation on the number of applications a citizen could file.
However, Justice Govindaraj declined to grant interim relief. “You cannot be filing 400 applications even if you are a public-spirited person,” the judge observed.
The court added that it would examine the nature of the petitioner’s RTI filings before any decision. The bench posted the matter for further hearing on November 12.
Justice Suraj Govindaraj, while issuing notice to the state government and other respondents, directed the government advocate to place on record details of the applications filed by the petitioner and the kind of information he had sought.
The petitioner, Devaprasad K, had approached the High Court challenging the order dated January 28, by which the Karnataka State Information Commissioner had blacklisted and barred him from seeking any information under the RTI Act.
Appearing for the petitioner, counsel argued that more than 400 RTI applications had been filed on different subjects, and that there was no repetition or similarity in the queries raised. He contended that the petitioner had merely exercised his statutory right to seek information and that the Act imposed no limitation on the number of applications a citizen could file.
However, Justice Govindaraj declined to grant interim relief. “You cannot be filing 400 applications even if you are a public-spirited person,” the judge observed.
The court added that it would examine the nature of the petitioner’s RTI filings before any decision. The bench posted the matter for further hearing on November 12.
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