The Bhubaneswar Police Department will investigate the alleged casteist slur used by the Odisha State Information Commissioner against a Right to Information activist in open court.
M. R. Garnaik, Assistant Commissioner of Police in Bhubaneswar, is expected to investigate the allegation levelled against State Information Commissioner Bikram Senapati.
Amulya Kumar Majhi, an RTI activist, had filed a police complaint with the city’s Kharavelanagar police station. According to the complaint, the action (blackmailing) was associated with his lower caste.
“I was offended by the remarks made in front of others. “I then filed a complaint with the Governor of Odisha, citing the Information Commissioner’s conduct,” Mr. Majhi explained.
“Though I filed a police complaint in November 2022, the police did not register it as a case,” the RTI activist explained. After two months, I filed an RTI request to learn the status of my complaint. I was turned away once more. When I pursued the matter with the first appellate authority (Deputy Commissioner of Police), I was informed that the case had been registered and that an ACP-level police officer would investigate.”
The State Information Commissioner has been charged under Section 500 of the IPC and Section 3 (I) (S) of the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. Mr. Senapati was unable to be reached for comment. The Information Commissioner, on the other hand, had previously told The Hindu that he would formulate his response once a formal complaint was filed against him. Meanwhile, the police have summoned the RTI activist to record his statement.
Prasanta Patnaik 
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