Man takes RTI route for extortion

Lucknow: Filing RTI not for public good but for a trolley-load of bricks! It may sound weird but this man from a nondescript village, Elaichipur Khargu, in Bijnor made it his business to file RTI applications and then demand bricks and money to withdraw the same.
He filed and withdrew RTI applications to extort money and arm-twist gram pradhans and local officers.On May 23, UP State Information Commission (UPSIC) got an FIR lodged against him for misusing RTI.
The matter came to the notice of the commission when the man himself filed a complaint against the district panchayati raj officers for not providing him the information he sought under Right To Information (RTI). In 2014, he had sought details of the wages paid to the labourers in Elaichipur Khargu village under MNREGS by gram pradhan during his tenure. The public information officer (PIO), district panchayat office did not provide information.
The man filed a complaint in the commission after which the SIC summoned the panchayat officer. "We were shocked to know what the panchayat officer told us," said UPSIC information commissioner (IC) Hafiz Usman.
The panchayat officer made a written complaint against the man for demanding 3,000 bricks and money to withdraw his application. UPSIC ordered a police investigation in the matter which revealed that the man had filed at least a hundred applications with different departments since 2014. He had demanded bricks and money from each of the departments to withdraw applications. In certain cases, he had already withdrawn his RTI application for money. "An FIR has been lodged against the man," said the IC.