BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha Information Commission (OIC) has directed police to conduct an inquiry into allegations of bribery involving a habitual RTI applicant.
The registrar of the Commission has written a letter to the State Director General of Police (DGP) seeking an appropriate investigation in this regard.
Officials said the Commission recently received a complaint along with a video clip in which an RTI applicant, Tankadhar Sahu, hailing from Balangir district, was allegedly seen demanding illegal gratification from Public Information Officers (PIOs) to withdraw his RTI complaints.
On scrutiny of records, it was found that the said applicant had filed hundreds of RTI applications against various government departments, many of which are at different stages of adjudication before the Commission.
Further examination revealed that the applicant had been frequently camping in Bhubaneswar and allegedly demanding bribes from PIOs and first appellate authorities attending hearings before the Odisha Information Commission.
It was alleged that he adopted a method of seeking adjournments during hearings and, upon receipt of illegal gratification, withdrawing the cases.
The matter was placed before a full Bench of the Commission, which, after due consideration, decided to refer the case to the Police Authorities for enquiry, along with the video clip and related materials as evidence.
The Commission has also decided to keep all cases filed by the said applicant pending till completion of the police enquiry.
The Commission has further directed all Public Information Officers and First Appellate Authorities to keep the cases filed by the said applicant pending and to identify other instances, if any, where provisions of the Right to Information Act, 2005 have been misused.
The Information Commission, meanwhile, reiterated that it is committed to transparency and accountability and cautioned against any misuse of the RTI Act for personal gain.