RTI Application On Pune Airport No-Pickup Zone Rejected, Activist Seeks Probe Â
RTI Application On Pune Airport No-Pickup Zone Rejected, Activist Seeks Probe Â
Renuka Suryavanshi
Pune, June 30, 2026: Advocate Jatin S. Adhav, an Advocate-on-Record (Original Side) at the Bombay High Court and President of the People’s Welfare Association (PWA), has sought a government inquiry into the alleged arbitrary rejection of Right to Information (RTI) applications concerning the Pune Airport No-Pickup Zone under the newly notified Maharashtra Right to Information Rules, 2026.
Adhav has alleged that the Pune Traffic Police rejected RTI applications by invoking the new Rules while failing to comply with Rule 7, which states that if an application contains multiple subjects, the Public Information Officer (PIO) should provide information on the first subject and advise the applicant to file separate applications for the remaining issues. He questioned why no information was provided even on the primary query regarding the legal creation and demarcation of the No-Pickup Zone.
According to Adhav, the first RTI application was submitted on June 16, shortly after the new Rules came into force. Despite the revised application fee of ₹30 under the 2026 Rules, the government’s online RTI portal reportedly accepted the application in the previous format with the old ₹10 fee, generated an official registration number, and processed the application without raising any objections at the filing stage. He argued that citizens should not suffer because government systems were not updated in time.
The RTI application sought information related to the legal basis for establishing the No-Pickup Zone, its official boundaries, jurisdiction, approval process, statutory permissions, maps, public consultation, and the role of any private entities in managing pickup operations at Pune Airport. Adhav maintained that these are matters of significant public interest affecting thousands of airport passengers every day and should be proactively disclosed under Section 4 of the RTI Act.
Expressing concern over the implementation of the Maharashtra RTI Rules, 2026, Adhav warned that the new procedural framework could become a tool for rejecting applications on technical grounds instead of promoting transparency. He said arbitrary rejections increase the burden on applicants, appellate authorities, the Maharashtra State Information Commission, and courts by forcing unnecessary appeals.
Adhav has urged the Maharashtra Government to clarify whether the concerned Public Information Officer correctly interpreted Rule 7, whether such rejection is legally sustainable, how many RTI applications have been rejected under the new Rules since their notification, and whether all government departments updated their RTI portals and procedures in accordance with the revised regulations.
He has also called for an administrative inquiry into any misuse of the Rules and requested the government to issue uniform guidelines to Public Information Officers across Maharashtra to ensure that the new RTI Rules are implemented in a manner that strengthens transparency rather than restricts access to public information.
Stating that the issue extends beyond a single RTI application, Adhav said citizens have the right to know the legal authority, approvals, decision-making process and public interest considerations behind restrictions imposed at Pune Airport’s No-Pickup Zone. He added that appropriate statutory remedies would be pursued before the competent appellate authorities to secure disclosure of the information sought.
