The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court on Tuesday issued notice to the Maharashtra government, its home department and the Nagpur Police, seeking their response to a writ petition filed by a man who was summoned by the police to record his statement after he filed a query under the Right to Information (RTI) Act related to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Justice Rohit B Deo and Justice Y G Khobragade were hearing the plea moved by Lalan Kishor Singh (61) — argued through advocate Jitesh Duhilani — seeking to quash the notice issued to him on December 26, 2021, by the assistant police inspector (API), Traffic. Singh said he came to know from newspapers that the government was providing security to the Nagpur-based RSS office, which he claimed was an “unregistered NGO”. Therefore, out of curiosity, Singh said that on June 30, 2021, he filed an application under the RTI Act seeking information from the state home department's public information officer that on what basis was security being provided to the RSS office and how much was being spent on the same. The RTI plea was then forwarded to state intelligence department and later to the Nagpur Police, he added. Singh said that following this, deputy police commissioner of Nagpur (Special Branch), informed him that the special branch has been exempted from the RTI Act and thus, cannot provide the information he sought. Singh told the court that on December 26, 2021, the API (Traffic), MIDC in Nagpur city, served him a with notice for inquiry. Claiming that he was a daily wager, Singh said in his plea, “If security is being provided to NGO from the revenue collected from the public. it is the constitutional right of every citizen to seek information and raise question.” He added that the Nagpur Police was time and again pressurising him to appear before it, affecting his daily work. The plea added that the API (Traffic) is not a competent authority to hold any inquiry against Singh. It further said that initiating inquiry against Singh is unlawful and was being done to curb his fundamental rights. The HC will hear the plea next on January 24.
