The Right to Information law was once seen as the strongest weapon against corruption. People called it the eyes and ears of the public. The hope was that hidden truths in government files would come out and officers would become accountable. But today the picture looks different. In many places, RTI is no longer used for public good. Instead, it has become a tool for personal gain, blackmail and extortion. Some people have built a full business under the cover of this law.

At an event in Mysore University, former Karnataka Information Commissioner Dr L Krishnamurthy pointed out this danger. He said the rising number of fake RTI activists is killing the spirit of the law. According to him, the same law that exposed big scandals like 2G is now being used to harass government offices and demand thousands of unnecessary pages of information.

Read in Hindi: आरटीआई का कानून या रंगदारी का नया धंधा…!

Cases from across the country add to this worry. In Una, Himachal Pradesh, a self-styled RTI activist was accused of demanding ₹75 lakh from stone quarry operators. He collected documents through RTI and then threatened to file complaints unless he was paid. The vigilance department laid a trap and arrested him while he was taking the first instalment.

In Assam, the case of Dulal Bora is even more shocking. Dozens of cases of extortion and fraud were registered against him. He is said to have filed more than two thousand second appeals and sometimes sent over a hundred RTI applications in a single day. The charge was that he later took money from officers and contractors to quietly drop the cases.

In Gurugram, Haryana, an RTI activist and a YouTuber were accused of extorting lakhs of rupees from a school management. They kept filing RTIs and then threatened court cases and income-tax action. Finally, they demanded a large sum to withdraw the complaints.

In Surat, Gujarat, it became a full network. Police registered dozens of cases. The allegation was that some people obtained building details from the municipal corporation through RTI, then went to construction sites with measuring tapes, pretending to be inspectors. They scared builders and house owners with the threat of legal action and extracted thousands to lakhs of rupees.

In Andhra Pradesh, the Information Commission barred two people from filing any more RTIs. The Commission found they were repeatedly filing dozens of appeals and complaints just to harass government officers. Many of their applications asked for very old records that had no clear public interest.

In Theni, Tamil Nadu, one person filed 781 RTI applications only against the district court. Official work started getting affected. The Information Commission imposed a fine and called it a clear misuse of the law.

These are not isolated incidents. The method is almost the same everywhere. First file an RTI. Then collect documents. After that, threaten complaints, inquiries or media exposure. Finally, demand money in the name of a settlement. In some places, RTI has also been used to settle personal scores. Sometimes hundreds of applications are filed on the same subject; sometimes whole departments are buried under mountains of paper.

The Supreme Court has also expressed concern several times. The Court has said that RTI should not be used to frighten honest officers or stop government work. In one remark, the Court even said that RTI activism is turning into a new business in some cases.

The saddest part is that such people call themselves social workers and anti-corruption fighters, and in doing so they damage the credibility of the law. Public trust becomes weaker. Government offices start looking at every applicant with suspicion. The line between real and fake activists becomes blurred.

The RTI law was born to give power to the people. But some selfish people have tried to turn it into a weapon of pressure, threat and collection. When a business starts under the cover of a right, the biggest damage is done to the credibility of that very law. Today the biggest question is this: Is the right to seek information slowly becoming a licence for fear and bargaining for some people?