RTI activist Rakesh Kumar Bahl, who is accused of obstructing road construction work, has got a blow from the Supreme Court. The court has refused to grant him anticipatory bail on Monday (June 15). The bench of Justice Sandeep Mehta and Justice Vijay Bishnoi made sharp comments during the hearing and said that RTI activism has now become a new business.
The bench of Justice Sandeep Mehta and Justice Vijay Bishnoi upheld the order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, in which the bail plea of Rakesh Kumar Bahl was rejected. During the hearing, Justice Mehta said in a strict tone, 'RTI activist has become a new business. The central government has released funds, it will take care of the road construction. You are nobody. So called RTI activist! 'Yellow Journalism'.
Justice Bishnoi also raised the question as to why Rakesh Bahl was monitoring the road construction. He asked who are you who is monitoring the road construction or its progress? Are you a high official? The court upheld the order of Punjab and Haryana High Court not to grant anticipatory bail.
According to the information, Rakesh Kumar Bahal and another accused are accused of stopping the work of the road under construction and threatening the complainant and the workers who were monitoring the work. Along with this, it is alleged that Bahl assaulted the complainant, while the other accused kicked him. Apart from this, there has also been an allegation of making caste based derogatory remarks against the workers.
After this, FIR was registered under sections 304(2), 132, 221, 121(1), 351(2), 351(3) of BNS, 2023 (section 3(5), 121(2) of BNS, 2023 and section 3(1) of SC/ST Act. The Punjab and Haryana High Court had also accepted that the allegations in the FIR show direct and clear involvement in obstructing government work. On this basis the High Court had refused to grant anticipatory bail. Now the Supreme Court has also refused to grant bail to Bahl.
