Whispers Forum

The appellant submitted before the CIC that the denial of information u/s 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act is not correct as the third party against whom he had sought information had submitted fake documents, altering his date of birth to get recruited into the Army. He argued that the matter is of public interest and the information should be provided to him. The PIO informed that there is no documentary evidence regarding manipulation of date of birth in civil education certificate in respect of said individuals. The CIC observed that all the notings/ correspondence which took place while processing of the said complaint becomes personal information of that third party and except for the final outcome of the complaint, no other information can be provided to the appellant. Therefore, the CPIO was right in denying the information u/s 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act. The CIC noted that the appellant had already filed an FIR which will take separate cognizance of the accusation if the accused is found guilty.
Comments
This case shows that mere allegation is not enough to invoked the clause of public interest. It has to be backed by evidence if the desires that the personal information be disclosed. Similarly, it has the contention in many cases that the file-notings should be disclosed if the person has been found guilty or otherwise.
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

I think the opposition needs a master speaker. What he says need not be correct or true, but must sound convincing to Indian crowds.
B K Saha
Joshimath— a man-made tragedy
A K Saxena is right in saying that the Joshimath tragedy is man made and not a natural disaster. What to talk of Joshimath where serious cracks in hundreds of houses and on roads have developed actually many parts of this beautiful state have been ruined by constructing hydro power projects on the rivers or by cutting trees. Forest fires have been very common during this season. After retirement, my husband and I have been going regularly to the state in winter mostly this very month and we found on our way some place or the forest on fire. It was either due to carelessness when cigarette butts are thrown on the dry pine grass called parli in local language which is highly inflammable .The dry pine grass falls during these months and catches fire and spreads fast and burns the trees. Sometimes deliberately the fire is lit to clear the space for some construction by some antisocial elements. Widening of roads by blasting the hillside has been the cause of many landslides. Of course Chardham Pari yojna for which environment clearance has been obtained for defence needs so that our troops can reach the border quickly has definitely not been in the interest of safeguarding ecology. The NTPC Tapovan hydro power project, it seems, has also impacted the fragile land with its digging of tunnels. To save the incidents like in Joshimath we have to deal very delicately with any development model adopted for the state.
Aarti Khosla

Soldiers defend the country from external aggression, manage disaster, and are the backbone of our country. It has been seen that civilians in MOD deliberately create circumstances wherein they have to get redress from honorable courts including Supreme Court of India. Many times cases are won by the soldiers. Shouldn't the erring babus be punished sternly for causing financial loss to the exchequer as well as the soldiers. Since the cases are decided after a prolonged duration there's financial loss to the exchequer as well as soldiers. Could there be a nexus between babus in siphoning off so much money from govt coffers. I feel it's high time to put an end to such a menace and give soldiers their due without harassment.
Col V K Gupta

It will be inappropriate to attribute the Uttrakhand tragedy to divine wrath.It is a man-made disaster, caused by politico-bureaucratic-builders' nexus,under successive political dispensations.The corrupt elements have been allowing massive constructions, under the guise of development in blatant violation of environmental laws and local byelaws.
The ongoing construction of hydro-based power projects,Tapovan,Vishnugarh by a maharatna PSU is a matter of concern as it involves dynamite blasting for digging tunnels.Though,the power utility denies project link to Joshimath subsidence,but can it pass the buck,one wonders? A feasibility study must have surely been carried out to objectively and rationally uncover the strengths and weaknesses of the project.The crisis is escalating to other districts of Uttrakhand.
The moot point is : How could successive State governments,especially the permanent executive by ignoring the warnings contained in several reports submitted since1976.Pressure from builders' lobby cannot be ruled. Unrest has already started by the affected people of Joshimath. It may escalate to other districts. The centre may consider declaring emergency in the State,if so warranted.
A K Saxena ( A former civil servant)
Agree with the views expressed by Ritika Khare on destruction of nature
I fully agree with the views expressed by Ritika Khare regarding destruction of nature, forests & trees without caring about its future disasters on earth & humanity. The irony is most of this is done by our political masters, businessmen and civil servants as they are hand in glove in this loot. Wish we can elect one day a political dispensation which cares about earth & humanity, and also think of India's beautiful real future.
Harish Kumar

Generally, when an honest and upright officer belonging to Indian Forest Service objects to a project in an eco sensitive zone, he is called an anti development officer in the state. Great lady Gaura Devi, Sunderland Bahuguna launched a chipko movement in Uttarakhand against tree felling. If the state Govt had followed this principle in the ecologically fragile Himalayan region this would not have happened. Let us hope that the state Govt may stop the so-called developmental scheme in the fragile zone at least now.
R K Upadhyay
Only a technocrat should be appointed a DGCA.
K Srinivasa Rao

The appellant had sent several applications before the Supreme Court and submitted that the same were considered/ treated as PIL applications and were uploaded on the website of Supreme Court (Grievance Management Column). He sought certified copies of entire records of the PILs filed by him in 2019. The Registrar informed that six petitions were received and diarised in the PIL section of the registry whose status may be looked at the Supreme Court website. He further informed that except 38511/2019, all the other letter petitions have been weeded out and provided the noting in respect of the one petition. The Appellant submitted that while he had filed only one application on 13.07.2019, status report of the Grievance Management column on the Supreme Court’s website indicated six applications. The CIC observed that the reason behind the six applications has been narrated by the Appellant himself in his First Appeal stating that the six separate applications arose out of the same application being transferred from various public authorities viz. Ministry of Law and Justice, Department of Law and Justice etc. So, the question raised by the Appellant about the multiplication of the application dated 13.07.2019 has been answered by him in his own First Appeal. It is also noteworthy that multiplication of the application is not the question raised by him in the RTI application. The CIC held that the query raised by the Appellant seeking certified copies of records relating to certain specific PIL cases have been satisfactorily answered by the public authority by providing information as defined under Section 2(f) of the RTI Act. There is no legal infirmity in the response sent by the public authority, which requires any further adjudication, under the RTI Act.
Comments
The issue which has been overshadowed in the discussions is the fact that for only one application filed, the Supreme Court’s website indicated six applications with no outcome.
Citation: Shri Indrajit Biswas v. Supreme Court of India, Second Appeal No. CIC/SCOFI/A/2021/141525; Date of Decision: 15.12.2022
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

The peoples' assessment of the RTI Act is that it is collapsing under its own weight. The offices of Information commissions at the centre and States are considered a burden on the State exchequer. The political dispensations have started tinkering with the service conditions of central and States information commissioners in matters of age of appointment, retirement/ premature retirement, salary structures, dismissals etc. Lateral appointment of commissioners into RTI mainstream, will damage the transparency movement. Principle of seniority is not followed. Any officer, who does not fall in line, can be shunted out as a contractual employee. The pliable commissioners continue with all privileges.The Satark Nagrik Sangathan, a citizens' group working to promote transparency and accountability, reporting on the performance of the 29 Information Commissions set up under RTI Act across the country, has exposed dismal state of affairs of most commissions. While the State Information Commissions of Tripura and Jharkhand have been lying defunct, others are functioning with truncated strengths. Large backlog of pending cases. No wonder, about 3.14 lakh applications are reportedly pending in various information commissions. Added to this is the tendency on part of several commissions to return about 50% of the complaints without any speaking orders. It is an open secret that orders of CIC and SICs are not being implemented by government organisations. The tardy pace of disposal of applications by the commissioners has harmed the RTI movement irrevocably that was launched with massive fanfare in 2005. There is no security for RTI applicants who are under threats from those who are adversely impacted. The downfall of RTI Act 2005 started when political parties were exempted from sharing information. The office of Registrar General of SC was however, brought under the purview of RTI Act 2005.Exemption of SC judiciary was justified. The practice of taking prior consent of the third party(affected party) for sharing his/her information with the applicant, was regressive. The investigative agencies and Armed forces were exempted due to national security concerns. Reluctance to impose penalty on PIOs for non-compliance, continues unpunished with impunity. There is no system to regularly monitor the performance of information commissions across the country with the objective of strengthening the RTI regime. Majority of Commissioners are retired bureaucrats with 10% women. Perhaps, appointing more and more women as heads of CIC and SICs, would help in streamlining the system. Whispersinthecorridors's ‘ Date with RTI’,no doubt, is performing commendable job by increasing public awareness through daily reporting of RTI cases .
A K Saxena (a former civil servant)
Hearty congratulations on setting a new record. Hope to hit 500crore soon.
Dr Sushil Trivedi

The Information Commission is poorly handling the appeals and not entertaining them. The epidemic was indeed catastrophic and a little laxity should have been permitted rather than going by strict standards. The Commission is rarely seen as strict when it comes to the question of finding delay and imposing penalty. The facts should be examined on merits and not on technicalities. Will the information commission change the ways in the New Year?
Sukhvir Singh
Go whispers go... go.. go! You are the lone runner. Reach 500crore! Hit fast.
B P Pandey IAS (Retd)