Kochi Corporation’s move to put a leash on serial RTI ‘abusers’ triggers backlash

The Kochi Corporation’s decision to put a leash on what it perceived as serial abusers of the Right to Information (RTI) Act seems to have landed the UDF council in trouble, with the move drawing flak from the opposition LDF, legal experts, and RTI activists alike.

The LDF will petition the State Chief Information Commissioner and the Corporation Secretary against the move on Monday (October 12, 2026), while RTI Federation Keralam is set to approach the Governor demanding a rollback of the decision. The now-controversial decision to hand over the names of “serial” RTI petitioners to the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) was taken at the council meeting on Wednesday (October 7, 2026). This was after Kadavanthra councillor Gipson George initiated a discussion calling for action against those he derogatorily referred to as “RTI labourers”.

Clarifying his stance, Mr. George said he was not against RTI but against those who weaponise what was conceived as an anti-corruption tool and a means of ensuring transparency in governance into a tool for corruption in connivance with a section of Corporation officials. “RTI applications filed by many such serial offenders vanish without the issues raised being addressed. This is a clear indication of petitioners being monetarily settled. Even common people are falling prey to this racket, going by an incident in which the owner of a 650 sq.ft. building received a ‘ransom’ demand of ₹5 lakh citing permit-related issues,” he said.

However, Supreme Court lawyer Kaleeswaram Raj said the move went against the spirit of the RTI Act, which does not prescribe any ceiling on the number of applications that can be filed. “Since the law hasn’t prescribed any such limit, one can file as many applications as required, depending on one’s needs, circumstances and various other factors. So nobody can insist that applications should not be filed beyond a point,” he said.

Mayor V.K. Minimol lamented that the council decision had been misconstrued as a move against RTI itself. It was taken in the wake of recent VACB action against a Corporation building inspector and a middleman masquerading as an RTI activist. “In fact, the VACB itself has alerted against such an extortion racket exploiting RTI. We have found an activist who has filed over 2,000 petitions related to the Corporation alone. The problem is particularly severe around our Fort Kochi and Vyttila zonal offices. These RTI abusers demand ransoms ranging from ₹5 lakh to ₹5 crore,” she said.

The Corporation has drawn up a list of alleged RTI abusers to hand over to the VACB for verifying their whereabouts and sources of income.

V.A. Sreejith, LDF parliamentary party leader in the Corporation, however, said the decision was politically incorrect as well, considering that it went against the spirit of a pathbreaking legislation brought by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance with the support of the Left. “How can a local body take a decision against the law of the land? There are mechanisms, including the VACB, to act against such RTI abusers. We will organise protests demanding a rollback of the decision,” he said.

RTI Federation Keralam State president Shashi Kizhakkada and secretary Jolly Pavelil described the move to place citizens using RTI under suspicion as anti-democratic and against the spirit of the legislation. “As per Section 6(2) of the RTI Act, an applicant need not reveal the purpose of the application. Subjecting citizens to investigation for filing RTI applications violates their constitutional rights. Rather than terrorise RTI activists, the Corporation should focus on ensuring transparency in governance,” they said in a petition to the Corporation.