After a Decade, Chennai Court Acquits RTI Activist Who Refused to Stand During Enquiry

New Delhi: A metropolitan magistrate court in Chennai has acquitted an activist in a case dating back 10 years, when he had refused to stand up during an enquiry on his RTI plea.

Activist Siva Elango had sought details of the advertisement expenses in the erstwhile government of J. Jayalalithaa. He had asked for the details of the money spent to advertise the AIADMK government’s one year achievements, from 2011 to 2012, in various dailies across the nation, reported Press Trust of India.

While the information was declined, his appeal had come up for hearing before the Tamil Nadu Information Commission in 2015. During the proceedings, when he was asked to stand up, Elango declined to do so citing provisions of the RTI Act.

Thereafter a police complaint was lodged against him by the commission. The panel had alleged criminal intimidation, use of defamatory words and obstructing government employees from doing their duty. Subsequently Elango was arrested in January 2015 and had to spend three days in jail.

“I appeared in the case as a party-in-person. The case went on for 10 years and saw 140 adjournments. I was finally acquitted on October 15, 2024 by the 18th Saidapet metropolitan magistrate court,” Elango said.

He added that there was no sufficient evidence to prove the prosecution’s case against him.