RTI activist sought details of govt tenders. Haryana govt buried him under 37,443 pages
Pankaj Arora, a local book depot owner filed a Right to Information (RTI) application with the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED), seeking details of tenders, staffing, and expenditure. He now virtually finds himself buried under a mountain of papers!
Gurugram: In a bizarre case in Haryana's Kurukshetra, an RTI activist's pursuit of transparency has turned into a paperchase—quite literally.
Yet, Arora claims, the response is incomplete, with thousands of irrelevant pages dumped to obscure alleged irregularities. He also said, the banks informed him, the department has failed to encash the cheque and demand draft.
Also Read: This Haryana information commissioner is striking terror in the hearts of govt officers
A mountain of paper, but little clarity
On 30 January 2025, Arora, who runs Mehar Book Depot in Sector 13, filed an RTI application with 15 pointed queries.
He sought details of tenders issued by the PHED between January 2023 and January 2025, contractor licences, employee records under the Haryana Kaushal Rozgar Yojana, GST payments, and departmental expenditure, among others.
His aim: to uncover what he alleges are financial and procedural irregularities in the PHED.
The department's response, however, was anything but straightforward.
On 3 February, Arora received two letters from the Executive Engineer (XEN). One instructed subordinates to calculate the number of pages and fees, while the other demanded Rs 85,000 for rendering him the information. 'They sent two letters on the same day, contradicting each other. It felt like a deliberate attempt to confuse,' Arora told ThePrint.
The fee was later reduced to Rs 80,000. Arora sent a demand draft for Rs 10,000 and a cheque for Rs 70,000. But, the department delayed the response for months. It was only after Arora escalated the matter to the governor, chief minister, chief secretary and Kurukshetra's deputy commissioner (DC) that the PHED acted. On 6 June, following the DC's intervention, the department dispatched a quintal of documents—37,443 pages—to Arora's doorstep, through one of its employees.
Arora alleged the response is a classic case of information overload meant to obfuscate.
'Thousands of pages are irrelevant—copies of contractor agreements and other documents I never asked for,' he said. He claimed the department failed to provide critical details, such as specific tender processes, GST payment records, and audit reports, which were central to his RTI query. 'They're hiding a multi-crore scam in tenders and recruitments,' Arora alleged, adding he has now appealed to the State Information Commission, which has accepted his plea.
What adds to the controversy is Arora's claims the Rs 80,000 he sent the cheque and the DD for was never encashed and deposited in the government treasury. 'I paid Rs.10,000 through a demand draft from PNB and Rs 70,000 via a banker's cheque from the Little Millennium School, both in my name. The bank confirmed the funds weren't deposited,' he said.
Demand drafts and cheques typically expire after three months, raising questions about the department's handling of the payment.
PHED defends its actions
Sumit Garg, the Executive Engineer at PHED Kurukshetra, defended the department's response. Speaking to The Print on Sunday, Garg said, 'We provided the information as per the RTI application. Compiling nearly 40,000 pages took significant effort and over two months. The fee was calculated at Rs 2 per page, as per government rules.'
Addressing the non-deposited payment, Garg claimed the issue arose because the demand draft and cheque were issued under the name of Mehar Book Depot and Little Millennium School, and not in Arora's name. 'We've asked him to validate the payments,' he added.
Garg also dismissed Arora's request for digital records, stating, 'The RTI didn't specifically ask for digital copies.'
Arora, however, insists he had requested digital formats to reduce paper use, in line with the government's paperless initiative. 'They ignored my request and sent a quintal of paper to intimidate me.'
He also claims this is a record in Haryana—no RTI applicant has ever received such a voluminous response. 'It's a deliberate tactic to discourage activists. They thought I wouldn't pay Rs. 80,000, but I did. Now, they've buried me in useless papers,' he said.
The activist has escalated his fight to Chandigarh, where his appeal is pending before the State Information Commission.
For now, Arora remains undeterred, vowing to pursue the truth, even if it's buried under a mountain of paper.
Also Read: Why UPSC has returned Haryana govt's proposal for promotion of 27 of its officers to IAS
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