Right to Information applicant blacklisted by Gujarat to move HC

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The Gujarat Information Commission (GIC) has blacklisted and barred at least nine applicants from filing applications under the Right to Information (RTI) Act in the last two years, revealed an analysis by Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel (MAGP), an NGO.
One of the nine applicants, Manojkumar Sarapadadiya (47), a former conductor in a Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC) bus and resident of Amreli, who was blacklisted for his lifetime by a 2020 order, has decided to move the Gujarat High Court.
The GIC had ordered that he could not seek information under the RTI Act from any officers of any department in the state for his lifetime citing that information sought by him is not on par with the objective of the RTI Act.
Manojkumar said he filed nearly 150 RTIs between 2016 and 2018 “only with GSRTC department, pertaining to corruption at multiple levels”, although the state information commissioner’s order notes that he has filed nearly 170 RTIs and 140 first appeals.
“I also filed several complaints within the department and various authorities in this period on ongoing corruption within the department based on the information that was provided under RTI but no tangible action has been taken till date,” he said.
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