Chennai: Chairs were lifted and waved in the air by activists as a mark of protest for the arrest of RTI activist Siva Elango. As permission was refused to sit while addressing the information commissioner, Mr Elango went ahead and courted arrest on Wednesday. On Friday, members of Satta Panchayat Iyakkam (SPI) and Aam Aadmi Party protested in front of the state information commission (SIC), demanding the release of the activist. By evening, Mr Elango was granted bail at the metropolitan magistrate court at Saidapet.

Standing up for the right to sit, the members shouted slogans at the Teynampet signal on Friday noon as the police tried to first restrict them by pulling in barricades around and then arresting them. The activists said similar protests are being organised in other parts of the state too. Mr Senthil Arumugam, general secretary of SPI, says, “The arrest of SPI president Siva Elango is shocking and shows the atrocious behaviour of the SIC. RTI applicants are continuously humiliated by the commission.”

The activist demanded that during SIC proceedings, RTI applicants be given a chair and not asked to stand. Mr Senthil says that the chief information commissioner Sripathi has been acting against the spirit of the RTI Act. He adds, “We have conducted many protests to highlight this. He has not changed his atrocious attitude towards RTI applicants and RTI activists; we demand his dismissal.

If the chief information commissioner gets changed, it will send a strong message to all other commissioners.” Activists add that the disposal rate of appeal petitions in SIC is very low. As the sloganeering at the signal rose, the police bundled the activists into awaiting police vehicles.