Whispers Forum

No reform, perform, transform… The Prime Minister has been asking government agencies to reform, perform and transform, but they have only obeyed to innovate. They innovate newer methods of making life difficult for the citizens to frustrate the prime minister’s orders to make ease of living and ease of doing business with the government agencies by twisting rules not to deliver justice or lawful redressal to public grievances or reviving the old munshigiri in the digital India of today. Take the latest illogical, unproductive, costly and wasteful diktat from the RBI asking all bank customers having an account to get KYC done again. These letters have been issued blindly in bulk without caring for the exercise done only last year. The RBI has not prescribed any interval at which it has to be done. I am a central government civil pensioner. My monthly pension is credited to my account. I submit to the bank “Life Certificate” in the month of November every year. I regularly write cheques and carry out transactions. Even then the Bank has asked me to visit the branch personally with documents and photo, get KYC done, failing which they would stop transactions in my account! What an innovation of threat? Arre! RBI you could not catch one bogus account holder so far or catch swindlers robbing the banks of 15000 crores but you hold out a threat to stop transactions. Wonderful innovation. You can’t be expected to do anything better! But let me tell you that you are inviting adverse attention of the Hon’ble Supreme Court for deciding on your threat one day when some consumer challenges your diktat and seeks compensation for agony, harassment, cost of transport etc and inconvenience. Can’t you devise a more positive and productive method of KYC?
M L Gupta

The attested photostat copy of certain letter was denied by the PIO under Section 8(1)(h) of RTI Act. As the FAA upheld the reply given by the PIO, the applicant filed an appeal before the CIC. The PIO submitted that the letter sought for by the Applicant was the communication under which departmental action was sought against the Applicant and it contains the brief of the proposed disciplinary action, details of which were already revealed in the Chargesheet served to him. Upon a query from the CIC regarding the invocation of Section 8(1)(h) of the RTI Act, the PIO was unable to tender any justification except for reiterating that the details contained in the averred letter were already revealed in the Chargesheet. Despite being afforded with adequate opportunity during the hearing to the PIO to justify the denial as required under Section 19(5) of the RTI Act, no tenable explanation was forthcoming. The CIC noted that the information sought for by the Applicant relates to his own disciplinary case. The CIC rejected the denial of the information and directed the PIO to revisit the RTI Application and provide a reply to the Appellant incorporating the available information as sought for therein, free of cost. The CIC granted the limited liberty to the PIO to redact in consonance with Section 10 of the RTI Act, the names and identifying particulars of third parties as well as the personal information, if any, related to third parties, both of which is exempted from disclosure under Section 8(1)(g) and 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act.
Comment
The PIO must understand that he/she may be called upon to justify the invocation of the exemption for the denial of the information. To justify the denial of the information under Section 8(1)(h) of the RTI Act, PIO must be able explain what impediment will be caused to an investigation, apprehension or prosecution of offender by the disclosure of the averred information.
Citation:Shankar Ram Verma v. Department Of Posts, CIC/POSTS/A/2023/100589; Date of Decision: 29.04.2024
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