Whispers Forum

The Appellant filed an RTI application seeking certain information about payment by SEBI of the amount deposited by the Sahara India, progress of the case pending in the Supreme Court, Different schemes run by Sahara India etc. He filed a First Appeal alleging that the information provided was incomplete, false and misleading. During the second appeal, the PIO informed that SEBI had submitted 22 status reports before the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court is primary holder of the information. However, the information regarding the process of refund and cut-off dates for the processing of the application have been provided to the appellant. The CIC held that PIO has provided an appropriate reply to the RTI Application as per the provisions of the Act.
Comments
The question as to who is the holder of information if a public authority has transferred some documents to another public authority has often been raised. In case of judiciary, the PIO often transfers the RTI application to the Registrar of the Court under section 6(3) of the RTI Act asking the registrar to directly provide the information to the applicant.
Citation: Mohan Sahu v. Security and Exchange Board of India, Second Appeal No. CIC/SEBIH/A/2023/100957; 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

The mismanagement of NEET etc exam by NTA has been in news for some time. One of the reasons for this is the centralised operation from its office in NOIDA. It is impossible to have a close watch on various agencies, persons etc required for conduct of such exams throughout the country. NTA should open its regional offices ( at least eight) in other cities across India. The regional officer should be made responsible for finding proper place, persons etc. for conduct of exams. They should collect the answer sheets etc, in their region and send it to the Head Quarters for further processing. This may help in minimizing the chances of leakage etc. CBSE has done this and it is working well.
S Gopal

The Lok Sabha election results yielded surprising outcomes for various political parties. However, the Congress party in Karnataka faced a setback as their freebies did not lead to electoral success. In the 2023 assembly elections, Congress achieved a notable victory, largely credited to the innovative freebies provided to different sections of society. While the increase from one seat in 2019 to 9 seats in 2024 is significant, the party's failure to substantially grow its representation despite holding a strong majority in the state is a major setback for the Congress.
Aditya Malviya

As a supporter of BJP, I am once again disappointed that Modi chose to surround himself with sycophants, who mislead him by praising all his commissions and omissions. Sending politicians to jail after they are convicted for graft is perfectly fine. However, locking them up for years pending trial will generate sympathy for them in public to the detriment of BJP. Major factor for Jagan's loss is sending Chandra Babu to jail just to satisfy his whims. Arrogance is another trait displayed by the sycophants. Further a jerk in the bureaucracy took out an uncalled for circular threatening government servants with strict implementation of biometric attendance. Is this required at this stage for the Modi government to open another front of confrontation with a loyal voter base of government servants who voted for 7 out of 7 in the Capital?
Bharat

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will remain an MP from Rae Bareli seat in Uttar Pradesh and will resign from Wayanad seat in Kerala. Priyanka Gandhi has been declared the candidate by the Congress party for the by-election on the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat. Priyanka has said that she will not let the people of Wayanad feel the absence of Rahul Gandhi. If Priyanka wins, it will be interesting to see how she raises issues of public interest in the House. While Sonia will be a member of the Upper House, both her son and daughter will become members of Lower House in the event Priyanka registers victory.
Ankita Malviya

The appellant sought certified copy of passport renewal application of his wife Mrs. Shaily Mishra Mittal along with documents submitted for passport renewal. The PIO replied that the Appellant was seeking personal information of a third party exempted from disclosure under Section 8 (1) (j) of the RTI Act. Appellant submitted before the CIC that he wants to know the marital status indicated by his wife in her passport renewal application as it is his apprehension that false information regarding her marital status has been indicated. He contended that the information sought was not exempted from disclosure as per Section 8 (1) (j) of the RTI Act as he was seeking details regarding his legally wedded wife who cannot be considered as a third party as their marriage is presently valid. The CIC held that an appropriate response in accordance with the provisions of the RTI Act has been provided as the Appellant is seeking personal information of a third party contained in her passport, disclosure of which is exempted u/s 8 (1) (j) of the RTI Act.
Comments
The use of RTI Act in quasi-judicial proceedings is not uncommon where the applicant tries to use another channel instead of the regular appellate remedy. Such attempts can provide a meaningful result only in cases where “information” is sought and there are no prescribed ways to obtain it.
Citation: Shri Prem Prakash v. Competition Commission of India, CIC/CPCOI/A/2023/105991; Date of Decision: 28.03.2024
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

Paper leakages, time-lags in conducting the examination, awarding grace marks as compensation, extortions of money from the candidates for facilitating qualifying, sting operations and so on. The case has all the ingredients of a mega scam. Unfortunately, the National Testing Agency (NTA) has been in the denial mode, ostensibly trying to protect the alleged wrong-doers. No arrests of officials, not even suspensions, have been ordered, till date. NTA’s role has been unprofessional, dubious, suspect from the beginning.NTA has a lot to learn from a professional body like the UPSC. Needless to mention. The mega- scam must be having inter-state/country-wide ramifications , involving powerful mafia. It would be in the fitness of the things, if in these circumstances, the case is subjected to a Supreme court-monitored inquiry by the CBI. Further, as the integrity of the examination has been compromised, it may be declared cancelled, sooner than later, and re-conducted afresh. This is the demand of the public-at-large including the aspirants. The public feels greatly saddened by the sufferings undergone by genuine aspirants for the hard labour they put in. But, the ends of justice will have to be met. The verdict of the Supreme court, will, no doubt, have to be honoured. Stormy sessions may be ahead in the Parliament. The ruling dispensation will have much to explain.
A K Saxena ( A former civil servant)

As the results came in on June 4 the NDA Alliance realised that a fractured mandate had been given by the people. PM Modi and his colleagues, Shah , Nadda , Rajnath Singh, then took a strategic decision to sit in the Opposition benches in Lok Sabha . They called their NDA pre- poll alliance partners and informed them of BJP leader’s decision. They also asked their colleagues to make their own decisions regarding government formation, and were free to act as they thought fit. Both Nitish Kumar and Naidu were completely stunned by this decision of the BJP leadership as expressed by PM Modi on the telephone to them. Both Naidu and Nitish Kumar were deeply unhappy by this news and requested PM to wait before making any assumptions about their future plans. This decision of the BJP leadership leaked to the INDI alliance, Kharge and Jairam Ramesh who were stunned. Why? They were totally aware of the chaos in their alliance. They were further apprehensive of the Rs 8500 per person per month announced by Rahul Gandhi and his determination to distribute wealth from rich to poor like Robin Hood fables. Where were the resources going to come from and would result in anarchy in India. Kharge asked Pawar to speak to Nitish Kumar. When Pawar spoke to Nitish Kumar he pointedly asked him his source of information! Pawar said he had no knowledge and was only asked to speak to Kumar. Nitish Kumar then told him about the input he had received from PM Modi ! This shocked Pawar. He called back to Kharge immediately and pointedly asked him - Who is going to be PM - tell me that first? Pawar called up Akhilesh Yadav of SP party and told him everything that he had learnt from Nitish Kumar. Yadav rang up Kharge and told him not to make any decisions till he arrived in Delhi. He further told Kharge that if you do not listen to me , I will withdraw from INDI alliance and would be alone in Lok Sabha. That statement stumped Congress party totally. Their numbers vanished as Yadav wanted to be PM too? Ms Mamata from Bengal had already thrown in her ambition to be PM too!
Devindra Sethi

First the PoK. It was in the news, recently due to terror attack sponsored by Pakistan, killing many pilgrims and injuring many more. Terror attacks have not stopped despite the promises made by the ruling dispensation to justify demonetisation. Proxy war from training camps from across the border, however, continues unabated. More terror attacks could be in the pipeline. Intelligence failure. Now, consider Tibet. India, in a tit-for-tat, has reportedly decided to rename over 30 places in Tibet ( called Xizang in mandarin). India did not protest China’s forcible occupation of Tibet since 1959. Renaming places, though belated, will thus tantamount to re-opening the Tibetan issue. Better, late than never. China has been a perennial pain in our neck. China has, of late, deployed PLA tanks along LOC in POK. War seems imminent. The question is: Is renaming of places in Tibet by India not over due, especially when China under cartographic aggression, has already renamed several sites in Arunachal Pradesh(AP) besides constructing hundreds of villages inside AP through its draconian policy of salami-slicing and claiming AP as part of south Tibet. It has been issuing stapled visas to Indians domiciled in AP. Similar incursions have been reported by the locals in Ladhak. No protest. China has also deployed PLA troops along the LAC. Galvan valley confrontation, is fresh in our mind. Against this backdrop, renaming over 30 places in Tibet by India, is considered a smart foreign policy initiative. The NDA-3.0 dispensation. is expected to put its best foot forward and forcibly occupy POK-Gilgit-Baltistan. Delay will be disastrous. Aksai chin (38,000 sq km) is already under China’s illegal occupation. China is hell-bent on occupying Taiwan, conducting military exercises, dangerously close to Taiwan. This may escalate tension in south-china sea region. India, ready for hybrid war against dual challenges from China and Pakistan, has a strong maritime presence in the region. Finally, a word about Dalai Lama. China has destroyed Tibet’s pristine culture by demolishing pagodas, monasteries, replacing Tibetan language by the mandarin. Buddhism was born in India. Both Tibet and India have age-old ties. The Tibetans facing persecution by China, fled to India in 1959 and were given shelter- mostly concentrated in Dharamshala. The Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for his non-violent struggle for liberating Tibet. He has been living here in exile since March 1959. He is highly regarded for his contribution to India’s composite culture and philosophy. While maintaining his Tibetan identity, Dalai Lama follows liberal Nalanda traditions. This serves as a testament to the enduring bonds that exist between the Tibetan and Indian cultures. Nalanda had a Mahavihara, a large Buddhist monastery in the ancient kingdom of Magadha(present Bihar). Earlier, Khan Abdul Ghaffar khan(of Pakistan) and ex-President Nelson Mandela were awarded Bharat Ratnas in1987 and 1990 respectively. Then, why deny the honour of Bharat Ratna to Dalai Lama? This will be a retort and politically correct step against China’s misadventures.
A K Saxena ( A former civil servant)