Orissa HC rejects bail pleas of three RTI activists for spreading fake news

CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court has rejected the anticipatory bail pleas of the three Right to Information (RTI) activists accused of spreading fake news related to the deployment of police personnel for the protection of VK Pandian, the chairman of 5T and close aide of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

The three RTI activists – Pradip Pradhan, Prakash Dash and Srikant Pakal had filed anticipatory bail applications after cases were registered against them for allegedly committing forgery by using forged documents to spread fake news at the Saheed Nagar police station in Bhubaneswar on April 2.

The number of police personnel deployed around Pandian was unusually as high as 74, the trio had informed at a press conference in Bhubaneswar on March 30. The information was obtained by exercise of RTI Act, it was claimed. But the state police administration had immediately dismissed the claim stating that no such reply was supplied to any RTI applicant.

While rejecting the anticipatory bail applications, the single judge bench of Justice Chittaranjan Dash acknowledged “the weight of the allegations against the petitioners, which prima facie establishes the accusations of forgery and misrepresentation of information obtained through the RTI Act.”

“In the above premises, grant of anticipatory bail to the petitioners would not serve the interests of justice, as there exists substantial material suggesting their involvement in grave misconduct under the alleged offences,” Justice Dash observed.

Justice Dash also said that the actions alleged not only violate the sanctity of the RTI Act but also erode public trust and reliance on the work conducted by RTI activists for promoting transparency, accountability, and citizen participation in governance.