MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Tuesday asked the BMC if it could ban the entry of RTI activists and users from entering civic buildings. “These are public institutions and you may be well within its right to regulate entry. We can understand if some areas are restricted. But can you ban entry completely? This is like externing a person from the area,” remarked a division bench of Chief Justice Naresh Patil and Justice Makarand Karnik. The bench said that it was going by the petitioners’ claims that the entry of activists had been banned.The court was hearing a public interest litigation filed by activist Kamlakar Shenoy against the BMC and municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta for allegedly calling RTI users “extortionists” and “blackmailers.”Advocate Aditya Bhat, counsel for the petitioner, said that in K West ward, the corporation had put up display boards with the photographs of activists, saying they were “professional complainants” and their entry was barred.In an affidavit, the BMC justified the statements made by Mehta. The affidavit said that the “municipal commissioner had full right to intimate or to make a statement in public regarding issues involving larger public interest which are acting as a hindrance in the fulfilment of the duties of the corporation and causing mental and physical inconvenience to the general public due to oral and written submissions by unrelated and unaffected entities”. The BMC further said that it had issued a circular to streamline its working so that grievances of the citizens can be redressed.Advocate Bhatt pointed out that as per the figures provided by the corporation, of the around 41,550 complaints received by the 24 wards, 37,632 had been classified as being filed by those not personally affected.The petitioner claimed that there was no provision in the rules that categorised complainants as affected or unaffected parties and this was a ploy to deny information. The petitioner further alleged that attempts were being made to frustrate the provisions of the Right to Information Act.“It appears that the BMC is prejudiced against any form of civic activism which in fact causes hindrance to the illegal acts of the officials of the corporation and seeks to protect offenders. The issuance of such statements and framing of undemocratic policies by the municipal commissioner will suppress civic activism and alert citizens who act as watchdogs. It will promote corruption,” the petitioner said.The high court has asked BMC to take further instructions and scheduled the matter for further hearing after four weeks.

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