On the 2nd of November 2018, 37-year-old, Right to Information activist Manoj Tripathi was found to have fallen from the terrace of a five-story building under suspicious circumstances. Tripathi, however, unfortunately succumbed to his injuries on the 18th.

Tripathi was an important activist that had sought on many occasions the right to information (RTI) on several influential people including Madhya Pradesh, BJP Vice President Rameshwar Sharma, alleging that Sharma had forcefully acquired 7,000 square feet of government land and was illegally constructing a structure on it. Tripathi was pivotal in using the right to information against Sharma,  providing several documents against the alleged illegal construction to the police, not three days prior to his death. Additionally, Tripathi had further sought to reveal information and corruption complaints against Radheshyam Julania, chief secretary of the water resources department.

Tripathi used the RTI as a tool of accountability, and when the the Indian government was questioned in parliament as to whether any data had been officially collated regarding previous attacks on RTI activists such as Tripathi, no specific answer was given.

Tripathi’s activism demonstrates the powerful ability to utilize RTI as an apparatus of accountability on behalf of the government.