Attacks on RTI activists in India

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Many Right to Information Act (RTI) activists, including policemen, have been harassed and even murdered for seeking information to “promote transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority” in India. Many face assaults on a regular basis. People seeking information from their gram panchayat and the local administration also face social ostracism. Many threats and attacks (including murder) are unreported by the media.

Rising voices


RTI activists are vulnerable human rights defenders (HRDs) in India. Unlike other HRDs, a majority of the RTI activists are not part of an organisation; they often act alone, moved by anger at corruption and other illegal activities. RTI activists are vulnerable because they live in the same areas as public authorities and political leaders who do not want information about their activities to be disclosed. For the most part, human rights defenders receive media attention only when killed or seriously injured. When complaints are made by RTI activists, law enforcement personnel (who often work with corrupt officials) do not take appropriate action. The Right to Information Act, 2005 provides inadequate protection to whistleblowers. The Central Information Commission and the State Information Commissions are not mandated to deal with such threats or attacks or to provide protection when needed.
Protection of RTI activists was raised in Parliament several times during 2010. The Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Shri V. Narayanasamy, when replying to Unstarred Question No. 3456 in theLok Sabha on 1 December 2010, stated that reports had appeared in the media about the victimization of people who use Right to Information provisions. However, he asserted that the Indian Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure have adequate provisions enabling the law-enforcement systems in the states to take preventive and punitive action against such threats. He further stated that the government of India has urged the chief ministers of the states and administrators of union territories to promptly inquire into such incidents and take action against the offenders. However, no action is taken even after the court orders it. The Bombay High Court, when hearing the case of the murder of RTI activist Satish Shetty in Maharashtra on 7 May 2010, ordered the state government to provide police protection to any person (or organization) complaining of threats or the use of force after filing applications under the RTI Act. The high court also directed the state government to set up provisions for speedy investigation of cases of threats or attacks against social activists, a monitoring system and a database of social activists within 90 days. However, the cases of attacks on activists in Maharashtra increased.
There is a need to amend the RTI Act to provide for the protection of those seeking information under the Act. The Asian Centre for Human Rights recommends that a separate chapter, “Protection of those seeking information under the(RTI) Act” be inserted into the Act. Protection measures should include (a)mandatory, immediate registration of complaints of threats or attacks against RTI activists on the First Information Report and placing such FIRs before the magistrate or judge of the area within 24 hours for issuance of directions for protection of those under threats and their family members, and periodic review of such protection measures; (b)conducting inquiry into threats or attacks by a police officer not below the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police/Assistant Commissioner of Police, to be concluded within 90 days; and (c)trial of the accused within six months. Further, concerned Public Information Officers, First Appellate Authorities and those directly related with the information sought under the RTI Act should be presumed to have abetted the offenses against the RTI activists unless evidence proves otherewise.

List of assaults


NameStateDateAttack type
ketan shahValsad,gujarat14/01/2013Attack
Assam6/11/07Assault[4]Rinku Singh RahiUttar Pradesh26/03/2009Assault
Firoz Ibrahim KhanMaharashta11/17/07Assault
Gopalbandhu ChhatriaOrrisa2/1/09Assault
Ripu Daman OhriPunjab6/1/09Assault
Sanjib NandiPunjab7/6/09Assault
MunikrishnaKarnataka10/27/09Assault
Ajay KumarDelhi1/1/10Assault
Nayana KathpaliaMaharashtra1/8/10Assault
Kiran PandeyPunjab1/10/10Assault
Sumaira AbdulaliMaharashtra3/16/10Assault
Abhay PatilMaharashtra4/1/10Assault
Ashok Kumar ShindeMaharashtra7/17/10Assault
Budhai KumarUttar Pradesh8/9/10Assault
S Channabasappa PatilKarnataka9/16/10Assault
Yashwant GavandMaharashtra1/2/11Assault
Arun Baburao ManeMaharashtra1/2/11Assault
Salman ReddyOrissa1/17/11Assault
Safdar AliJammu and Kashmir1/20/11Assault
Vikrant KarnikMaharashtra1/25/11Assault
Amar PandeyUttar Pradesh1/27/11Assault
Gopal Prasad, Anil Mittal, Nanda SawantDelhi2/3/11Assault
Mangala RamRajasthan3/3/11Assault
Bharat Guggul, Bhanji JogenGujarat3/5/11Assault
Vishnu MedhkarMaharashtra4/2/11Assault
Dilip JaiswalMaharashtra4/5/11Assault
Arvind KaushalMaharashtra4/8/11Assault
Popat BargeMaharashtra4/17/11Assault
Jai Bhagwan and KarambirHaryana5/21/11Assault
Ismail PatwariMaharashtra5/27/11Assault
C.P. SinghMaharashtra6/22/11Assault
Baghu DewaniGujarat6/24/11Assault
Ganasham KunkolkarGoa7/22/11Assault
Jaisukh BambhaniaDaman and Diu8/8/11Assault
Sanjit DasMeghalaya8/14/11Assault
Ajay AmbaliaGujarat8/31/11Assault
Parshuram Kishanlal MaliGujarat9/7/11Assault
Manisha GoswamiGujarat9/21/11Assault
Mehul KatariaMaharashtra10/7/11Assault
Santosh M TiwariMaharashtra, Gujarat10/16/11Assault
Poonam SolankiGujarat12/2/11Assault
Akhilesh SaxenaUttar Pradesh2008Assault
Parameswar SabarOrissaJune 2011Assault
Niren Pareek, Christopher MinzAssamMay 2007Assault
Tapal GaneshKarnatakaUnknownAssault
Purshottam ChauhanGujaratUnknownAssault
Narayan HarekaOrissaUnknownAssault
Akhil GogoiAssamUnknownAssault
Sumit Kumar MahatoJharkhandUnknownAssault
Bibhav Kumar, Rajeev KumarUttar Pradesh1/26/07Harassment
Tukaram BansodeMaharashtra12/31/07Harassment
V GopalakrishnanTamil Nadu3/13/09Harassment
Srikant PrabhuMaharashta5/1/09Harassment
Kishori RamBihar7/21/09Harassment
Goverdhan SinghRajasthan3/1/10Harassment
Mohit SharmaDelhi3/12/10Harassment
Jay Kumar RaghuvanshiMaharashtra3/13/10Harassment
Davinder KhuranaPunjab4/2/10Harassment
Ramesh AgrawalChattisgarh6/23/10Harassment
Ganesh BorhadeMaharashtra7/7/10Harassment
Manish BhatnagarMaharashtra7/18/10Harassment
Harshad PatilMaharashta8/13/10Harassment
Gopalkrishnan, Siva Elango, Madhav VishnubhattaTamil Nadu9/1/10Harassment
Fatima Mynsong, Acquiline Songthiang, Matilda SutingMeghalaya9/1/10Harassment
Abhijit GhoshMaharashta9/1/10Harassment
Ratna AlaGujarat9/29/10Harassment
Bobby BasaiawmoitMeghalaya2/1/11Harassment
Mary Anne PohshnaMeghalaya3/9/11Harassment
Sanjay GuravMaharashtra3/22/11Harassment
M Z AliKarnataka5/10/11Harassment
Ketan ShahGujarat5/12/11Harassment
Ravinder RathiHaryana6/2/11Harassment
Payi GyadiArunachal Pradesh6/5/11Harassment
Brijesh KumarDelhi8/2/11Harassment
Ashok PaswanBihar8/19/11Harassment
Arvind SharmaPunjab9/5/11Harassment
Derrick DiasGoa9/11/11Harassment
Subhash AggarwalDelhi10/7/11Harassment
Sheeba Fehmi and Arshad Ali FehmiDelhi10/8/11Harassment
Sanjay GuravMaharashtra11/28/11Harassment
Anupam Saraf, Vaibhav Gandhi and Dinesh ShahMaharashtra12/13/11Harassment
R. MarijosephKarnataka12/30/11Harassment
Kishan Lal GeraHaryanaSince 2008Harassment
R V PrasannaKarnatakaSince 2009Harassment
Shiv Prakash RaiBiharMay 2008Harassment
Takhellambam Ibempishak, Sagolsem Memcha
and Konjengbam Anita
ManipurSince Apr 2011Harassment
Pawan SharmaUttar PradeshSince April 11, 2011Harassment
EmmanuelAndhra PradeshFebruary and March 2011Harassment
Jagbir SinghDelhiSince February 2011Harassment
Biren LuwangManipurSince April 2011Harassment
Injambakkam H SekarTamil NaduSince August 2011Harassment
Khirasindhu SagriaOrrisaSince November 2011Harassment
Muzibur RehmanUnknown2007Harassment
Saleem BaigUttar Pradesh2007Harassment
Asith SangmaMeghalaya2008Harassment
Ashok VermaPunjab2009Harassment
KheemaramRajasthan2010Harassment
Shivaji RautMaharashtraJune 2011Harassment
Ajay GakharDelhiJuly 2011Harassment
All Gujarat RTI usersGujaratJuly 2011Harassment
Ankur PatilMaharashtraSeptember 2011Harassment
Gunjan MehtaGujaratDecember 2011Harassment
DurgaDelhi2011Harassment
C J KariraAndhra Pradesh2011Harassment
Nelapati Papireddy, Pachalla Suryanarayana Reddy
and Kovuru Satyanarayana Reddy
Andhra Pradesh2011Harassment
Mohinder KumarPunjabUnknownHarassment
Anwar ShaikhMaharashtraUnknownHarassment
Y. Ekyimo KikonNagalandUnknownHarassment
Ashok RathodGujaratUnknownHarassment
Bharat H Gajjar, Milan JoshiGujaratUnknownHarassment
Rolly ShivhareMadhya PradeshUnknownHarassment
Jai Prakash AryaDelhiUnknownHarassment
Gian SinghDelhiUnknownHarassment
Ram SagarDelhiUnknownHarassment
Sumankant RaichaudhariBiharUnknownHarassment
Piyusha TiwariRajasthanUnknownHarassment
Rayabhai ZapadiyaGujaratUnknownHarassment
RazuddinHarayanaUnknownHarassment
RukhminibhaiAndhra PradeshUnknownHarassment
Roshan LoboKarnatakaUnknownHarassment
Bhadresh WamjaGujaratUnknownHarassment
Bhanjibhai Jogel and Bharatbhai GhughalGujaratUnknownHarassment
Lalit MehtaJharkhand5/15/08Killed
Kameshwar YadavJharkhand6/7/08Killed
VenkateshKarnataka4/6/09Killed
Satish ShettyMaharashtra1/13/10Killed
Arun SawantMaharashtra2/1/10Killed
Vishram Laxman DodiyaGujarat2/11/10Killed
Shashidhar MishraBihar2/14/10Killed
Sola Ranga RaoAndhra Pradesh4/11/10Killed
Vitthal GiteMaharashtra4/21/10Killed
Dattatraya PatilMaharashtra5/22/10Killed
Amit JethwaGujarat7/20/10Killed
Vijay Pratap (alias Babbu Singh)Uttar Pradesh7/25/10Killed
Ramdas GhadegaonkarMaharashtra8/27/10Killed
SonuHaryana2/10/11Killed
Niyamat AnsariJharkhand3/2/11Killed
Amit KapasiaGujarat12/29/11Killed
Shehla MasoodMadhya Pradesh8/16/11Killed
S BhuvaneswaranTamil Nadu1/10/12Killed
Nadeem SaiyedGujarat11/5/11Killed (reason possibly unrelated)
Ramvilas SinghBihar12/8/11Killed (reason possibly unrelated)
V BalasubramanianTamil Nadu8/19/10Killed(?)
Jabbardan GadhviGujarat2/22/11Suicide
Poonam SolankiGujarat12/7/11Assault
DudhramJaipur, Rajasthan2/9/1212Assault
Premnath JhaVirar, Mumbai25 Feb 2012Killed
Abhijeet SinhaRajeev Nagar Police, Patna, Bihar23/05/12Assault(reason RTI & Complaint
Akhil GogoiNalbari, AssamJuly 5, 2012Assault 
Ramesh AgarwalRaigarh, ChhattisgarhJuly 7, 2012Shot
Rajesh suresh BobadeAmravati, MaharashtraSeptember 21,2012Assault
Vasudeva AdigaUdupi,KarnatakaJanuary 12,2013Killed 

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