Gandhinagar, Mar 11 (PTI) The Gujarat government on Tuesday said that strict action will be taken against persons who file multiple RTI applications and threaten and extort money from people using that information.
Gujarat Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi informed the legislative assembly that the Surat police had registered 41 FIRs against 50 accused in just one month following allegations of extortion.
He said that the state Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) has been tasked with preparing a list of "elements" who used RTI and YouTube channels to blackmail people and extort money from them.
BJP MLA from Surat, Arvind Rana, drew the attention of the House to this issue under rule 116 of the assembly, which deals with "matters of urgent public interest".
Rana said several cases had emerged in Surat city wherein applications under the Right To Information (RTI) Act were filed against builders or private citizens to extort money.
Rana and three other BJP legislators sought to know the action taken by the government to curb this menace.
To this, Sanghavi said Surat police commissioner Anupam Singh Gehlot, during a coordination meeting with local MLAs last month, received input that some "elements" identified themselves as 'RTI activists' and owners of YouTube channels to extort money from builders.
"The RTI Act is now being misused by some elements. They file multiple applications and threaten to publish that information in their unknown newspapers or YouTube channels. They put pressure on citizens and officials and then extort money by threatening to malign their image," the minister said.
He said that after getting a representation from MLAs last month, Gehlot had asked the Special Operations Group (SOG) of Surat police to probe the matter.
"After finding substance in the MLAs' allegations, the Surat police registered 41 FIRs against 50 accused in just one month. The FIRs include 24 cases of extortion under the guise of RTI and 17 cases of extortion by threatening to publish news in their newspaper or YouTube channel," he said.
Sanghavi said Rauf Bombaywala, a local Congress leader, was among the 50 accused booked on the charges of extortion under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
The Surat police had arrested several of these accused, he said, adding that Bombaywala had tried to extort Rs 50,000 from a local resident alleging illegal construction on a terrace.
"One Mohammad Shakir Shaikh was arrested for threatening to malign the image of a woman employee of the Surat Municipal Corporation, while four FIRs were registered against Habib Saiyad, who runs a YouTube channel, for trying to extort money using RTI," the minister said.
He said, "Instead of working, some people file RTI applications and misuse them. They even sit inside government offices to trap their targets. The ACB is making a list of all such elements. Strict action will be taken against such people in the coming days."
