RTI activist files complaint with the CIC against the premier investigation agency

'CBI is harassing me'

RTI activist files complaint with the CIC against the premier investigation agency

All he did was exercise his right, the Right to Information. But now RTI activist Mannish Bhatnaggar claims he is

being harassed, by none other than the CBI. Bhatnaggar who filed the complaint on March 31, 2010 in the office of Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah shared his plight with MiD DAY.

While Bhatnaggar himself is trying to take the issue lightly, he says his family members, relatives and neighbours have never been so scared. "My family members are asking me to go out of Delhi for sometime and my neighbours are worried about several strangers roaming around in the neighbourhood and enquiring my whereabouts," he said.

Mannish says the CBI sleuths first visited a friend of his, whose address he had been using for correspondence for his RTI purposes.

"Almost a week ago, my friend's landlord had a few unexpected visitors and that very day the landlord issued a notice to my friend asking him to vacate the flat," he said on condition of keeping his friend's identity under wraps.

After a few days, he alleges, some CBI officials reached his house in Rohini and sought his whereabouts from his mother. "My mother got scared and asked me not to come home for a few days. After that I have been getting calls from several people who have enquired about my relatives and neighbours," he said.

But on March 31, Bhatnaggar decided to raise the issue with the Central Information Commission (CIC). "I had a meeting with Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi who asked me to file a written complaint with the office of the Chief Information Commissioner," he said.

But according to Mannish, even after filing the complaints the stream of unknown and suspicious visitors continued, forcing him to shoot off an urgent telegram to all the top offices of the country.

Beyond RTI

Information on the attendance of ministers during cabinet meetings is beyond the purview of transparency law, the Cabinet Secretariat has held.
It has said that attendance of ministers during cabinet meetings is exempted from disclosure under the Right to Information Act as it is part of 'deliberations of Union Cabinet' which is an exempted information.
"The information is denied in terms of section 8(1)(i) of the RTI Act as this is part of deliberations of the cabinet," Director at the Secretariat, Meera Ranjan Tshering said in an RTI reply to applicant Abhishek Shukla.

"On Sunday, I sent a mail to the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), the Home Ministry, the Chief Justice of India and the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC)," he said.

He also forwarded a copy of his complaint to the Delhi Police Commissioner and the CBI's administrative branch. Though he has not received a reply from anywhere, apparently there have been no unexpected visitors for sometime.

When contacted by MiD DAY, the CBI was not forthcoming with a clear reply. "I don't have proper details of the issue so it would not be appropriate for me to make any comment. I will be able to divulge any details only after getting all the related information," said CBI spokesperson Harsh Bahl.

Meanwhile, Bhatnaggar is still maintaining a safe distance from his home. "I have been an RTI activist for more than five years but had never faced such a situation. I am surprised as well as scared with the high-headed attitude of the country's most prestigious investigation agency. But I would not back out without getting the replies of my RTI," he said.

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