NEW DELHI: RTI activity has become a new act, the Supreme Court said on Monday, while refusing to grant anticipatory bail to an activist and others accused of obstructing a public servant in road construction work.
A bench of Justices Sandeep Mehta and Vijay Bishnoi refused bail to RTI activist Rakesh Kumar Behl and his aide, questioning their authority to monitor road construction work.
Justice Mehta observed, “RTI activity has become a new business. The central government has released the money, and you will take care of the construction of the road. You are a nobody. The so-called RTI activist! Yellow journalism. He is fired.”
Justice Bishnoi agreed with Justice Mehta’s views and said: “Who are you to supervise the construction of all these roads? Are you a higher authority or what?”
Behl has appealed the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s order denying him anticipatory bail.
His lawyer maintained that they were wrongly implicated in the case because they highlighted the corruption involved in road construction.
According to the FIR, Behl, along with another accused, Rajeev Kumar, also known as Mintu, allegedly obstructed the ongoing road construction work at Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab and also informed the complainant under whose supervision the work was being carried out and the workers present at the site.
They also used insulting words against the worker and injured the complainant. An FIR has been registered against them under Sections 304, 132, 221, 121, 351, 351 of the BNS, 2023, 121 of the BNS, 2023 and Section 3 of the SC/ST Act.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court in its May 14 order said the allegations in the FIR reveal specific and direct involvement in obstruction of the government and refused to grant anticipatory bail to them.
This article was generated from an automated news feed without any modifications to the text.
