Anna Hazare warns of mass agitation unless Maharashtra withdraws ‘RTI amendments’

Civil rights activist Anna Hazare issued an ultimatum to the Maharashtra Government on Wednesday (June 24, 2026) calling for the withdrawal of the Maharashtra Right to Information (Amendment) Rules, 2026. He said a meeting with the Maharashtra Chief Information Commissioner in Ralegan Siddhi was “unsatisfactory”. “If they don’t withdraw the amendments and if people’s interest is jeopardised, I will hit the streets once again,” he told reporters.

Calling for a struggle against the amendments, he expressed dissatisfaction with the Maharashtra Government’s policies. “I did not get any satisfactory answers from the Government during this meeting. If the soul of the RTI Act has to be kept alive, a new committee needs to be formed immediately. This committee should consist of experts and officials who have in-depth knowledge of the Right to Information Act and who are pro-people,” he said after the meeting.

Amendments blunt RTI provisions

He had earlier written to the Maharashtra Government seeking complete withdrawal of all the amendments, adding that they weaken the spirit of the Right to Information Act and blunt its provisions. He has opposed the provisions of the amendment rules which have tripled the application fees, introduced appeals fees, and capped free information for those living Below Poverty Line. The rules mandate that one RTI query should pertain to a single subject, and the word count is limited to 150 words. It seeks mandatory revelation of identity of the applicant, removing the shield of anonymity for whistleblowers, and ban lawyers from representing the applicant at hearings. If the applicant fails to show up for the hearing, the case can be dismissed. If the applicant dies, the case will be closed.

Anna Hazare said that if the government does not act to unequivocally scrap the amendments before July 5, he will go on a hunger strike. He also threatened to start a nation-wide agitation. Mr. Hazare’s office stated that the Chief Information Commissioner informed them that he would convey the import of the talks to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who would take a final call.

Meet was ‘satisfactory’

Chief Information Commissioner Rahul Pande called the meeting “satisfactory”, claiming that Anna Hazare was pleased with the information given to him. “Today we met Anna Hazare and held extensive discussions on the effective implementation of the Right to Information Act (RTI) in the State. The focus of our discussion was making the RTI regime more people-friendly with more vigorous steps on maximum suo-motu voluntary disclosure under section 4(1) of the RTI Act. My senior colleagues and SIC Pune Bench Makrand Ranade and SIC Nashik Bench Prakash Indalkar also participated and supplied disposal and filing statistics. The recently notified RTI rules were also discussed and Anna underlined the importance of suo-motu disclosure and demanded that implementation of RTI rules be put on hold. We are satisfied with our discussions with Anna,” he said.

Meanwhile, civil rights activists have raised questions about the CIC’s role. They sought to know how the information commissioner could act as a mediator between the government and civil rights activists, and how the official could hold discussions when he had no power to amend or revoke the rules.