Release info pronto, thunders panel after attack on RTI activist

Withholding Talegaon land deal info sought by friend of slain activist Satish Shetty tantamount to violation of RTI Act, State Info Commission tells government agencies

A day after slain RTI activist Satish Shetty's friend and fellow RTI campaigner Arun Mane was attacked, allegedly for pursuing matters that Shetty had been after before his death, the Pune bench of the State Information Commission yesterday issued a pathbreaking order when it asked for the relevant information to be made available by Friday.

The Pune bench of the State Information Commission asked different government agencies to submit the information pertaining to recent land deals in Talegaon that had been sought by Shetty.

State Information Commissioner (Pune zone) Vijay Kuvalekar, responding to an application by RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar seeking disclosure of this particular information, maintained that withholding the information sought by Shetty could be termed a violation of the RTI Act.

Kuvalekar also ordered that a copy be given to Mane without charging him anything for it. He added that even the general public could access this information by paying nominal charges.

No arrests yet
The police have not arrested anybody in the Mane attack case. "We have not arrested anybody yet, but we have interrogated some people in this regard," Inspector Sanjay Nikam of the Talegaon police station said.

Mane, whose condition is improving, was attacked by unidentified assailants on Sunday morning after he filed two RTI applications seeking some important information regarding the IRB company.

Mane was attacked in Talegaon at his shoe shop and received injuries to the head and chest.

Maruti Bhapkar, Independent corporator from the area and an RTI activist himself, said, "It is shocking that activists are being attacked in this manner. The time has come for activists following sensitive land matters to come together, because if they do not do so, people who do not want this information to be divulged will keep attacking them."