Whispers Forum

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

If the people want good orders from CIC which are legal and in favour of disclosure, they must exercise pressure on their local representatives or such orders depicting the ignorance of the CIC will continue to flow. An incompetent teacher can destroy the future generations and a judge can end the Rule of Law. The information commission is the last bastion of democracy and it must rise up to the occasion by giving quality orders in the shortest time. Delays and illogical orders will end the faith of the citizens in the sunshine act. For accountability to flourish, the gatekeepers must be competent and agile.
V K Dash

Your website carries two items of RTI today - 1.Brilliant case law 2. News of CIC retiring on October 3 (Today is October 16). The case law shows what is wrong with the structure of RTI in India. Instead of the CIC acting in favour of disclosure, the Information Commission is looking for the slightest of the option to refuse information on technical grounds. It is the travesty of the Country to have wolves as guardians. Having a few Bureaucrats as Information Commissioners is fine, but why should almost all the Information Commissioners be retired civil servants? Those who have not given information during their service period will not turn monks and hence, their tendency to reject application on the slightest pretext is not good for democracy. The order shows that the Information Commissioners are poorly equipped in legal knowledge and lack the basic attitude which is essential for transparency.
Samariya

There is a lot of talk about the number of journalists and professors from OBC from corrupt dynasts. Either they do not understand social reality or they are doing these thing deliberately. The truth is that OBCs are very powerful. Being in great numbers and artificially inflating their numbers by including Muslims among them (Islam is casteless society), they join politics and become MPs, MLAs, Ministers, Chief Ministers. They have had the benefit of reservations for the past 28 years in IAS and many decades more in PCS. So, they join these powerful positions. They are big businessmen. They have immense property. Only those who cannot do these things in India struggle and become journalists and professors for a living. So obviously, there will be fewer journalists and professors from OBC. Why do these corrupt dynasts not talk of representation in the army? Jiski jitni bhagidari, uski utni hissedari should hold also for dying for the nation. It would be instructive to have a caste census of freedom fighters and those who gave their lives for the nation. As we know, Babasaheb Ambedkar never opposed the British nor ever went to jail in British India, on the contrary, he was a Member of the Viceroy's Executive Council (post of Cabinet Minister). On the other hand, Chandrashekhar Azad, the Brahmin, gave his life for the country.
Vijay Kumar