Whispers Forum

Authors: Dr. R.K. Verma & Dr. Anuradha Verma
Edition: 2nd Edition; 2023
No. of pages: 912
Publisher: M/s Taxmann
Price: INR 2595 / USD 68
ISBN No. 978-93-5778-529-7
Hardbound
The second edition of the “PIO’s Guide to RTI” has been published by M/s Taxmann in October 2023. The first edition came in 2011 and the next edition was much awaited.
The book is essentially a subject wise compilation of the operative part of the CIC orders and judgments of Courts interspersed with explanations of terms and concepts. The listing of content is very detailed and covers 29 pages, which makes it effortless to search for a case law which the reader desires. The plethora of case laws makes the work of the PIO simple to provide information by referring to a similar case law. The minutest of the issue under the RTI Act which one could fathom has been duly covered in the book. The authors have been successful in maintaining the balance between using common language which makes the reader friendly, while retaining the legal aspects of the Act.
The chapter on section 4 is all-encompassing which would enable the public authorities to understand the concepts of pro- active disclosure, duties of nodal officer, third party audit etc. in depth. The specific guidelines in the book would be helpful to the public authorities in the fulfillment of their duties.
The advocates and RTI activists would also find the book interesting for the deep knowledge it offers.
From the publisher’s side, the printing and paper quality is first-rate.
Overall, it is a must have book for all the Public Information Officers and the First Appellate Authorities.
Pros: Extensive case laws, Excellent division into headings, Elaborate examples and tips for PIO/FAA to avoid penalty, Misuse of RTI and ways to deal with it
Cons: Thick, On the costlier side
Disclaimer: The co-author, Dr Anuradha Verma, is a weekly columnist of this site, bringing out the column “DATE WITH RTI” since 2008.

In 1931, the minority community in Bihar constituted 15% of the population. In 2023 as per the caste survey of Bihar, the minority community constituted 18%. There are claims in the minority community that they are 25%. These figures hide more than they show. Between 1931 and 2023, there was partition in 1947. The minority community sought a separate country and got it. Acting on the two nation theory, the bulk of the minority community from Bihar went to Pakistan (they are called Biharis in Pakistan even today and persecuted being in such large numbers) and Bangladesh in large numbers. How come still there is an increase in their percentage (not just numbers, but percentage)? What could be the reason? The obvious reason is infiltration. For seventy years, the corrupt dynasts and corrupt casteist parties have actively encouraged infiltration from across the border, settled them in Bihar, given them ration cards and identity cards, to create a vote bank for themselves. The casteist parties took the game further, securing their vote bank politics. Now, this seventy years of appeasement had other aspects. Very cleverly, to bolster their population argument and to appease these groups, these parties gave the benefit of caste based reservations to the Minority community. Now, it is a fact that Islam is a casteless society. Nowhere in the Islamic world is caste recognised. The Muslims do not suffer any caste based disabilities. For a thousand years, they were the rulers of India. There can be no reason to give caste based reservations to the Minority community. But it adds heft to the population argument. 15% of the population which is being counted among the backwards in Bihar today, increasing their population artificially to so called 63% are Muslims. Minus the Muslims, this reduces to 48%. This is a huge difference. Clearly, the corrupt dynasts and the corrupt casteists feel caste census is going to help them regain power in order to bring back jungle raj and further appeasement. Now, what are the things which are required to be done in order to remove this infiltration led population percentage increase? The prerequisite to caste census is CAA and NRC. It has to be first decided who is a citizen of the country before counting caste. Caste counting of Bangladeshis to bolster the claim of increase in OBC population is a trick which has been tried by these corrupt dynasts and casteist elements for far too long. In order to limit the process of infiltration, a Uniform Civil Code is also a must. Once a uniform civil code is implemented, the Bangladeshi infiltrators will have less incentive to cross over and enjoy free reservations in India (which they never get in Bangladesh). The next step is to remove the Minority community from caste based reservations. They can be given reservations once the CAA and NRC is done, along with implementation of the Uniform Civil Code as citizens of the country, as members of the unreserved category on the grounds only of poverty. Any other prescription will only bolster infiltration.
Vijay Kumar

The failure or irrelevance of RTI Act can be attributed to non-compliance of its provisions. For instance, if, the central/States' PIOs refuse to receive an application for information or fail to furnish the desired information within the prescribed time period or knowingly give incorrect, incomplete or misleading information, the Central/State Information commissions are empowered to impose penalty of Rs 250/ for each day's delay subject to the total amount not exceeding Rs 25,000/. This is subject to the proviso that the Central/State PIOs are given reasonable opportunity of being heard before imposing the penalty. Neither the Central/ State Information Commissions nor the union/State governments, have details of cases in which penalties have been imposed. One can safely assume the number to be Zero. Diluting the authorities of Central / States' Information Commissions, it seems, is part of a planned conspiracy. The Commissions' verdicts on second appeals are not binding on the governments ,let alone, CPIOs / States' PIOs. Worse, the service conditions of Central/States information commissioners including their appointments, promotions, fixation of salaries etc are controlled by the respective governments. The position gets worse due to the large pendency of vacancies of Information commissioners ,both at the Centre and the States. These are perceived as mere parking lots for obliging the superannuated bureaucrats. There is no succession planning; no advance action to fill the vacancies immediately as these arise.
A K Saxena (A former civil servant)

The Government of India has invited nominations from civil servants of the rank of Joint Secretaries, Directors and Deputy Secretaries for deployment as ‘Rath Prabharis’ (special officers). Their job would be to showcase the government's achievements of the past nine years by organising ‘Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra’, across the country for five months preceding the General elections next year. The Yatra is expected to cover 765 districts and 2.69 lakh Gram Panchayats. It is a good initiative to enhance citizens' awareness about the government's achievements. However, there are some valid questions arising out of the decision, which merit careful consideration. These are as follows.
(a) Does the move not amount to utilising the official manpower for private (Read as political) ends before the general elections ; (b)Will this not adversely impact the civil servants ,who,as per Conduct Rules, are expected to be politically neutral ; (c) Is the move ethically and morally justified ; (d) Could the deployment of serving civil servants for private purpose, stand the scrutiny in the court of law; (e) Strangely, the steel frame of serving civil servants are keeping mum on the ill-advised move. Worse, even the retired senior bureaucrats who have no axe to grind are reticent about it. Against this background, there could be a better alternative to neutralise the opposition's criticism. The Centre would be better advised to utilise the services of retired senior bureaucrats, instead of deploying the serving officers and thereby causing utter dislocation of official work? The order does not mention as to who will perform the duties of Rath Prabharis during their absence from headquarters? If there is no trust deficit in superannuated bureaucrats, many would offer their services, pro bono, to the ruling dispensation.
A K Saxena ( A former civil servant)

It is learnt that instructions have been issued for certain categories of central services officers to engage in promoting various initiatives taken by the present government led by Narendra Modi in the last nine years. As a common citizen, it is strongly felt that this is a clear misuse of official machinery to engage in such promotional work which is not strictly falling within the officers' responsibilities. The Officers need to decline and also take it up through their representative associations. It will be recalled that the previous govt was engaging in such unethical actions by undertaking massive govt ad campaigns where pictures of the president of a political party who had no constitutional position were propagated. We must establish proper norms.
A K Singh

The appellant sought to know whether DDA has any plans for in-situ rehabilitation of families residing at Rangpuri Pahari Malikpur Kohi. If yes, the details of decision, copy of the scheme and other relevant information to be provided. The PIO referred to the in Situ Rehabilitation Policy and advised the application to visit the DDA site. Deliberations between the parties indicated that the response provided by the Respondent is unsatisfactory and generic and fails to address the specific query raised by the Appellant. The CIC directed that a revised reply should be sent clearly stating whether there is any scheme for in-situ rehabilitation of families residing at Rangpuri Pahari Malikpur Kohi or not. Further, an explanation of the PIO was called as to why no penal action should be initiated for the violation of the express provisions of the RTI Act.
Comments
In many cases, the CIC has preferred not to order for disclosure of information on the ground that interrogative questions not beyond the scope of RTI Act. This case law shows that under the RTI Act the PIO must provide specific information failing which he may be liable for imposition of penalty.
Citation:Samay Singh and Ors. v. DDA, CIC/DDATY/A/2022/652023; Date of Decision
Dr Anuradha Verma (dranuradhaverma@yahoo.co.in) is a RTI Consultant currently working with IIM Visakhapatnam. She has co-authored the books, RTI Right to Information - Law and Practice and PIO’s Guide to RTI. She offers consultancy on RTI matters and Third party audit. Her other articles can be read at the website of RTI Foundation of India at the link www.rtifoundationofindia.com

This is a blatantly partisan order and shows an attitude of restricting the flow of information which is omnipresent in the bureaucracy. The RTI Act is being reduced to Right to Terminate Application without any reason. Are the information commissioners so ignorant as the order makes them out? Or was it merely a slip or a wishful desire to help the public authority? (CBI in this case). Whatever be the reason, it shows the institution in a very poor light. Wake up CIC and recall the order. There is nothing wrong in accepting a mistake. It rather shows the magnanimity of the individuals and the strength of the institution.
Shailesh Kumar

Millions of words had flowed in the print media in the last three years of the decade of 1960, yet the situation today stands where it was then. The Israel Palestine conflict was debated endlessly. It is unlikely to be resolved satisfactorily in another 50 years. The reason is that there are no permanent solutions to some problems; no final answers to some questions; no ultimate logical end to certain arguments. That is the only lesson a reader can draw from the epic Mahabharat. Conflicts within an individual or outside in society end in war only: the Mahabharat within breaks out without much justification. Nobody can remain neutral. There is no choice. Ambivalence in supporting or opposing is costlier. The world is divided on terrorists even as it suffers the consequences of terrorist strikes. It is now a business for the powerful to breed terrorists and use them as toolkits. Justin Trudeau nursery proves it.
M L Gupta

Unarmed civil policemen in uniform getting beaten up happens frequently in India, such as an aggressive lady scooterist slapping and punching a traffic cop in Delhi a few years ago, a Kolkata cop assaulted by four men for booking a biker riding without a helmet last year, a cop kidnapped and assaulted in Sagar, MP this year or a on duty policeman in Noida beaten in a case of road rage in May this year. A defender of the law unable to defend himself is a spectacle very unnerving to the law abiding citizen and it emboldens other law breakers. In other democratic countries of the world, a civil policeman is armed at the very least with a short wooden baton hanging from his belt, which is easily accessible and adequate in normal circumstances to defend himself or for use as a weapon of offense. Why is this so not in India? The reason is very interesting. Actually it was not always so. If one watches clips of police controlling unruly crowds in British India, such small batons being used by them is a common sight. When not in use they hung by a thong from the waist belt. Why were they given up or rather simply vanishing? I found the reason by chance during my posting way back in the early seventies in Indore, MP. In the police lines I came across a store room full of such discarded batons. Officers who were in service at the time of Independence, revealed that the political class that came to power after Independence probably viewed these batons as signs of colonial repression and ordered them to be discarded forthwith all over the country. Ironically, the batons were replaced by a device more lethal, a cane staff three feet long and about one and a half inches thick, commonly called the “lathi”. Unfortunately the cane staff is too long to be hung from the waist belt when not in use. Consequently it is generally left clamped in the carrier of a bicycle or stuck in the motorcycle. In a surprise attack, it cannot be retrieved and the policeman is an easy game. The earlier short baton needs to be brought back, in line with police forces of the Western and South East Asian democracies. The cane staff is useful only as part of riot control equipment for dealing with mobs.
A R Pawar, former DGP, MP