Man files RTI on RSS, forced to approach HC to stop police questioning

Nagpur: The Nagpur bench of Bombay high court has issued notices to the state police and home ministry in a writ petition filed by a person summoned by cops for questioning numerous times after he filed a RTI query related to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
In 2021, Lallan Singh, an industrial worker and activist, had submitted a RTI query to the home department, seeking information about the legal basis of police protection provided to the RSS office, and also the expenditure involved in it. Singh’s RTI query had asked if the RSS is not a registered organization then under which rule it was provided security. His letter moved from department to department without a reply, before it ultimately led to Singh being summoned by the cops for an inquiry.
The RTI plea, which was filed at the home ministry, had first been sent to the state intelligence department, and then to the Kotwali police station. Singh was then issued a summons by the traffic police department for questioning. Singh said the police called him three-four times after which he decided to move the court.
He first approached the court in March 2022, but the petition could not be filed in person due to technical reasons, he said. Singh was directed to the legal aid cell of the high court, which provides assistance to persons who cannot fight a case on their own. Even here, it took almost a year for Singh to get a lawyer to plead for him from the high court’s legal cell. Two lawyers refused to take up his case, he says.
The case was finally filed in November last year, and notices were issued to the respondents on January 10.
The petition, which made the home department and state police respondents, claims the inquiry initiated by police was unlawful and curbs his fundamental rights. The information sought by him benefits public at large and does not violate any law, the plea says.
Singh said he filed a case in the high court only because he was repeatedly summoned to be asked questions, though he explained that the details were sought under the RTI Act.