Officer arrested for taking bribe for providing information under RTI
7 Jan, 2013An application was filed with the rehabilitation office under the Right to Information (RTI) Act seeking the records of acquired land in two villages of Mulshi taluka in Pune. The clerk in the office, Parbati Sopan Avaghade, asked the applicant to deposit Rs. 416 in the bank for copies of the information. After depositing the amount, the applicant approached him with challan and asked for the information. The clerk then asked him to pay a bribe of Rs. 3,000 to get the information. After bargain, Avaghade agreed for Rs. 2,000 and called him later.
The applicant then approached the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) Pune. The ACB laid a trap and the clerk was caught red handed accepting the bribe. Also unaccounted cash worth Rs. 50, 000 was recovered from the clerk.
In an earlier case, the CIC had granted a compensation of Rs. 3,000/- was granted to the applicant where a demand was made for bribe. http://www.rtifoundationofindia.com/demand-bribe-providing-documents-under-rti-1742