RIGHT TO INFORMATION - 2009 - Indian Social Institute

RTI applicants urged to have faith in SIC (1)
LUCKNOW: To make Right to Information (RTI) Act successful in the state, reposing faith in State
Information Commission (SIC) is necessary. SIC is an agency that supports the Act and if it is attacked
everytime it will make the Act redundant. "If RTI activists and users keep attacking information
commissioners and the functioning of the commission the Act will receive a beating", said MM Ansari,
Central information commissioner, New Delhi. Ansari was in the city to listen to the woes of RTI users and
to suggest them the redressal mechanisms on Saturday but he refused to respond to questions based on
the functioning of the UP information commission and the commissioners. The Act should be used in its
right format by sincerely paying attention to its sections like 2(f) which assures only that information which
is available in some or the other form. "Do not seek an imaginary information, in that case the Act does
not apply", said Ansari. The entire focus should be on the `nature of information' sought and not on
`nature of applicant' while entertaining a request. This will allow private bodies and NGOs to use the Act
and seek information from public authorities. Applicants before applying for the information should know
who is the custodian of that information. "Sending an application to the right entity will assure a timely
information", was the suggestion from the Central information commissioner. An applicant should always
seek an information in its original format, as it is available in the official records. This will not cause any
fudging of the original information. But, in cases where information needs to be compiled or sorted out
from the bulk this condition could not be maintained. Applicants can approach high court if they are
dissatisfied with the functioning of the commission. "But those who seek legal remedy should not
approach other authorities to get their case heard", he said. He also made a suggestion to NGOs to play
a helping agent. "The aberrant cases might be identified by NGOs and then they can get in touch with the
commissioners concerned to make them aware of the facts", said Ansari. This can help check
harassment of applicants. Responding to a question as to why the judgments of the Central information
commission (CIC) are not followed by the state information commission (SIC), he said that there is
already a growing need being felt to create a kind of harmony in the judgments passed at the Centre and
the state. But, as this will require to develop a vertical link between the information commissions at the
Centre and the state, how will it be done might be early to talk about. He made few suggestions to SIC as
well towards improving the functioning. The commission should list the hearings planned for the coming
months on its website. "Applicant can easily know about the date of hearing", he said. Ansari was
speaking at an event organised by Action group for Right to Information. Justice Pradeep Kant, senior
judge, Allahabad high court, Lucknow bench was the chief guest of the event. "The aim of RTI is to seek
information and not to damage the person or organisation against whom information is sought", said the
judge. Others present included Afzal Ansari, Sandeep Pandey and Justice Kamleshwar Nath. (Times of
India 13/4/09)
Want to stall husband’s transfer CIC says RTI Act helpless (1)
New Delhi: The Right to Information Act (RTI) might not be the right forum to stall one’s husband’s
transfer, after all. Or so learnt a Delhi woman who tried to probe the reason behind the outstation transfer
of her husband S K Soni, an airport manager with the Airport Authority of India (AAI). Alka Soni took out
an RTI campaign to retain the “services of her husband in Delhi” all the way to the highest transparency
body, the Central Information Commission, which ultimately declared her efforts as “unnecessary”. In his
recent judgment, Information Commissioner M M Ansari revealed that the RTI Act has no provision to
redress Soni’s grievances. “Every public authority (in this case AAI) is free to deploy its manpower
resources in any manner it deems appropriate for optimising efficiency and promoting accountability,” the
Bench observed. The CIC noted that the affected employee should look within the “framework of service
conduct rules” instead of the RTI. “In such matters, the use of the provisions of RTI Act is uncalled for,”
the Commission observed. During the sole hearing in the case, AAI brought to the fore through Central
Public Information Officer (CPIO) V K Sharma that Soni’s husband had “in all probability accepted” the
transfer since he had not made a request for retention of his services in the Capital. “The CPIO stated
that the appellant’s (Soni) husband, who is directly affected in the matter, has not made any
representation for retention of his services in Delhi,” the Bench noted in the verdict. This, the Commission
observed, was “probably because he has already accepted the terms and conditions, including the
transfer policy of the respondent (AAI)”. (Indian Express 14/4/09)
RTI answer to NET questions(1)