RIGHT TO INFORMATION - 2009 - Indian Social Institute

of providing the information as determined by him, together with the calculations made to arrive at the
amount in accordance with fee prescribed...''. The police seems to believe it is playing by the rules.
However, activists are wondering whether the letter is just a way of making it difficult to obtain information.
"The question of public authorities charging citizens the cost of manpower employed for collection of
information does not arise. Compliance with the Act's provision is like any legal duty performed by a
public servant,'' says RTI activist Commodore Lokesh Batra. Interestingly, Rakesh Sengar of BBA, points
out that other police districts such as northeast and west have offered information on the same without
asking for any legwork money as done by the southeast police. The NGO has appealed to the Central
Information Commission, says Sengar. It is not an open and shut case though. Wajahat Habibullah, Chief
Information Commissioner, says there are similar cases pending before the commission. "This is a live
issue before us. We have not passed any judgment in this regard,'' he says. Those in favour of right to
information would be hoping a favourable decision comes sooner than later. (Times of India 14/3/09)
RTI activists take to streets for speedy disposal of cases (1)
CHENNAI: A group of organisations working for the right to information took out a demonstration in the
city on Monday demanding speedy disposal of cases pending with the State Information Commission.
Activists from eight organisations including Anti-corruption Movement, Citizen Consumer and Civic Action
Group and Makkal Sakthi Iyakkam staged the agitation, saying that the Commission was taking at least
nine months to take up appeals for hearing. It was also not strictly adhering to the provisions of the Right
To Information Act to impose penalty on officials who refuse to disclose information to RTI applicants,
they charged. The number of hearings conducted by the Commission was about 1,000 last year and the
disposal rate came to an average of only 19 cases per month by each of the seven commissioners. As of
February this year, the Commission was hearing only appeals that were filed in June 2008, the
organisations said. In their joint representation sent to the Commission, the organisations charged that
the Commission was not strictly adhering to the penal provision in the RTI Act against officials who failed
to provide information to RTI applicants. Officials who don't provide information within the stipulated time
of 30 days are liable to pay a fine of Rs 250 per day up to a maximum of Rs 25,000. "Penalties are
imposed in only a few cases. If the Commission does not impose penalties, the public authorities would
have no reason to be afraid of the Commission, thus rendering the Act ineffective,'' the representation
said. The Commission had no data on number of appeals received, heard and disposed of, the
organisations said. Transparency International, Tamil Nadu Lanjam Kodathor Iyakkam, Fifth Pillar India,
Corporate Accountability Desk and Association for India's Development were the other organisations in
the group took part in the protest. (Times of India 17/3/09)
Citizens protest Tamil Nadu Information Commission failure on RTI Act (1)
CHENNAI: Activists held a demonstration outside Memorial Hall onMonday protesting the Tamil Nadu
Information Commission’s “negligentattitude” with Right to Information petitions. Presenting a
memorandum of their demands to the Commission after thedemonstration, they said that the Commission
should act immediately toclear backlogs and provide details of its functioning as mandated bythe RTI Act.
“If the Commission, the highest appellate body in the State does notmeet the requirements of the Act for
voluntary disclosures, how can weexpect others to follow the rules We have even volunteered
ourservices to collect the data and file all the details in an easilyaccessible form,” one of the activists said.
Chief Information Commissioner S. Ramakrishnan responded that theCommission was a legal body and
would give the demands dueconsideration. “It is not possible to accept their demand to usevolunteers as
volunteers cannot be held responsible. As for the otherdemands, we have increased the number of
hearings to nearly 260-270per week and we will clear the backlogs in the next couple of months,”he said.
Penalties were being imposed but the Commission had to take them upcase-by-case, he said, rejecting
demands for very stringent penaltynorms. As for the collection of penalty amounts, he said that
theCommission had written to the Accountant General offering to give alist of the penalties imposed and
the government could then verify ifthey had been collected. Mr. Ramakrishnan counselled patience as the
Act was gaining awarenessamong both officials and the public and it would take time for thestated
objective of transparency in public affairs to be realised.“The concerns raised by the activists are valid
and this is part ofthe process of increasing the efficient implementation of the Act,” hesaid. (The Hindu
19/3/09)
Over 4 lakh applications received under RTI in Maharashtra (1)