The Orissa High Court has quashed an order by the Odisha state information commission that had barred an RTI applicant from filing any applications for a period of one year.

In September 2025, the state information commission had debarred Chittaranjan Sethy, an RTI activist from Nimapara in Puri district, citing “abuse” and “misuse” of the RTI process. The commission had observed that Sethy’s conduct merited strict action and accused him of misusing his right under the RTI Act, 2005, by filing excessive and repetitive applications that burdened the public authorities.

“The applicant being a citizen of India has the right to get information under the RTI Act, but he is also duty-bound to obey the law of the land and procedures. His conduct indicates a clear misuse of the Act,” the commissioner had said while imposing the ban.

Sethy had sought information related to income, expenditure and development work from Nimapara block and Mateipur gram panchayat, filing 61 applications in 2023 alone. He had requested month-wise and year-wise details, using his below poverty line (BPL) card to waive application fees. The commission stated that he filed over five applications per month on average and that many were repetitive in nature.

Challenging the decision, Sethy moved the Orissa High Court.

Eminent RTI activist and advocate Pradeep Kumar Pradhan said: “The case was heard by Justice R.K. Pattanaik. The high court’s verdict is a significant victory for the RTI movement in Odisha.”

The court observed that the complete information sought had not been provided to Sethy and directed that the remaining details be supplied. It also struck down the restriction on the number of applications an individual can file in a year.

“The restriction imposed on the petitioner — allowing only 12 RTI applications per calendar year — is not justified,” the court said in its order. “Even if the petitioner is in the habit of filing multiple applications, the State Information Commission had no authority to impose such a restriction under the RTI Act.”

The court concluded that the commission’s direction was beyond its jurisdiction and, to that extent, the impugned order stood quashed.

Sethy, 51, welcomed the verdict and said: “This is a victory not just for me but for thousands of RTI activists working at the grassroots to expose corruption. Even though I have studied only till Class VII, no threat or inducement has stopped me from filing RTI applications. After I received training in RTI, I made it my mission to fight for accountability.”