Chandigarh, January 10:
Sandeep Singh Dhaliwal, State Information Commissioner of the Punjab State Information Commission, issued an order today imposing a one-year ban on Manjinder Singh, resident of House No. 2469, Sunny Enclave, Sector 125, Kharar, District Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar, from filing any further applications under the Punjab State Information Commission.
This order follows the instructions of the RTI Commission, in which on January 8, 2025, State Information Commissioner Sandeep Singh Dhaliwal was conducting hearing about 70 cases related to RTI appeals filed by Manjinder Singh under the second appeal category. During the hearing, it was revealed that Manjinder Singh had been using RTIs of a fabricated nature to blackmail government employees and officials, influencing government work through corrupt practices. The Commission had repeatedly questioned the use of these RTIs in public interest, but no response was provided by Manjinder Singh.
The Commission further stated that in light of previous decisions by various higher courts concerning similar cases, and after considering these facts, the State Information Commissioner has imposed the one-year ban on filing applications with the Commission. Additionally, the fines and compensations imposed on officials in different RTI cases have been cancelled. Public authorities have been advised that if any future applications filed by Manjinder Singh under Section 7(9) of the RTI Act, 2005, are repetitive or excessively burdensome on the office, they should be ignored.
