Nikhil Dey, 4 other RTI activists get jail in 20yearold assault charge
A senior activist of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS), Nikhil Dey, and four others were convicted by a local court in Rajasthan on Tuesday in a 20-year-old case of an alleged assault filed by a village head against them.
The munsif magistrate court in Kishangarh convicted the five under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 451 (trespass in order to commit an offence punishable with imprisonment) of the Indian Penal Code, and sentenced them to four months of imprisonment.
However, the sentence has been suspended pending an appeal to be filed by the activists in the court of the additional district and sessions judge.
The case pertains to an incident on May 6, 1998, when the RTI activists – Dey, Naurti Devi, Ram Karan, Babulal and Chotu Lal – demanded information from the sarpanch of Harmara gram panchayat regarding complaints of corruption in development works.
“Because his office was usually closed during working hours, the activists went to his house to deliver the letter from the BDO (block development officer). The sarpanch came out of his house and physically assaulted the activists,” a press note from MKSS said.
Despite the attack, the MKSS activists decided not to file an FIR thinking that right to information cannot depend on police cases and that it had to depend on dialogue with the sarpanch and the exercise of a legal right under the panchayati raj act, it said.
However, on the same day, Aruna Roy of the MKSS wrote to the district collector to ensure the activists get the information.
On the May 8, the sarpanch filed an FIR accusing the activists of assaulting him.
A statement from the MKSS said the organisation, which fought corruption and stood up for the rights of citizens, was disappointed by the court’s verdict.
The People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) also condemned the sentence.