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Out of Tihar on bail, activist back to his old ways: Filing RTIs

Anil Dutt Sharma, who is facing charges of extortion, files RTIs and PILs on conditions in Tihar Jail, where he spent four months.

rti Anil Dutt Sharma at his Dilshad Garden residence.

 

Earlier, it was a collection of Indian Penal Code manuals and books on property acts that 54-year-old Anil Dutt Sharma scoured to file his over 1,000 RTI applications. Four and a half months after a stint in jail on charges of allegedly using these RTIs to extort money from builders in East and Northeast Delhi, a new book has been added to his collection — the ‘Delhi Jail Manual’.

A motor-parts businessman-turned-RTI activist, Sharma was released on bail on October 21 after he was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) of the Delhi government on charges of extortion and criminal conspiracy, and sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act on June 24 this year. The court released Sharma after the investigating agency was unable to give clear grounds further seeking Sharma’s custodial interrogation.

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However, not even a month into his bail, Sharma has already filed 30 RTIs and at least five PILs in court and there seems to be no sign of him relenting. While some of his RTIs continue to be on encroachment, others include on the conduct of officials in Tihar Jail.

Speaking to Newsline at his residence in Dilshad Garden, Sharma says, “I have already filed RTIs on Tihar Jail because I spent my time in there reading and understanding how the officials work. I am in the process of preparing some more applications and have purchased the jail manual for the purpose. We are entitled to 400 grams of milk a day. I never saw that amount of milk while I was in jail. The action on the PIL will reveal all. I have been framed by the ACB and the complainants. I will continue my fight for justice.”

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Sharma has been granted bail on 12 of the 13 FIRs against him.

“They don’t have a case against me. There is no evidence, which is why the court has released me. They said there are audio recordings but nothing has been established yet. Just because I have set out on this mission to establish the truth by filing RTIs, the police are after me. I have done nothing wrong. I only want to know the truth,” Sharma says.

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On June 24, Sharma was reportedly caught red-handed in Shahdara while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 1 lakh from a builder. Investigators later told court that Sharma would impersonate as a Junior Engineer of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and would threaten builders carrying out illegal constructions to pay him money or else forgo their properties. Following this, the ACB began questioning junior and assistant engineers. So far, three FIRs have been registered against three junior engineers of whom one has been arrested.

As investigators continue to establish the extent of his illegal empire, Sharma is confident he will emerge clean. “My PILs are mostly on the misuse of powers by the CIC commissioners, against the Deputy Commissioners who are administrative heads and under whom unauthorised construction is rampant, issues of encroachment in Delhi. My approach is honest,” he says.

While the father of two now spends a part of his day reading through all jail and IPC manuals trying to ascertain loopholes in police investigations, he is also designing a new website. “The website will have everything to do on how the ACB carried out its investigations and the story of my life. Hopefully, more people will be inspired by it and this mission to fight against injustice will continue,” he says.

First uploaded on: 20-11-2014 at 10:50 IST
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