Whispers Forum

Vide RTI application dated 29.04.2024, the appellant sought information about the Provident Fund Statement, PF trust being declared unexempted, his PF amount transferred to EPFO department etc. but did not receive any response. During hearing, upon the CIC’s query on not replying to the appellant within stipulated time limit, the respondent submitted that the earlier CPIO retired, and he has recently joined the respondent’s office and was not aware of the online RTI application. To this, the CIC questioned how an online RTI application can go unnoticed. In terms of the information to be furnished, the CIC observed that the respondent gave an appropriate reply to the appellant vide written submission dated 07.10.2025. Therefore, no further intervention of the Commission is required. Further, the CIC took a serious view of the fact that the respondent did not reply to the appellant within stipulated time limit as per the RTI Act and issued a show cause notice to the CPIO as to why action should not be initiated against him/her for not replying to the appellant’s RTI request within prescribed time limit.
Comments
One of the basic tenets of the RTI Act is that an applicant should receive a reply within the prescribed time limit. With the digital tracking of the RTI Application, it is incumbent upon the PIO to reply as per the prescribed time period or face consequences.
Citation: Biju Soman v. Hindustan Antibiotics Limited, Second Appeal No. CIC/HINAL/A/2024/134731; Date of Decision:15.10.2025
Dr Anuradha Verma (dranuradhaverma@yahoo.co.in) is a RTI Consultant currently working with IIM Vishakhapatnam. She has co-authored the books PIO’s Guide to RTI and Right to Information – Law and Practice. Her weekly article is being published since 2008 on this site. She offers consultancy on RTI matters and third party audit to individuals / organisations. Her other articles can be read at the website of RTI Foundation at the link https://www.rtifoundationofindia.com

In India, the police consider themselves as a law unto themselves. Barring a few exceptions, the police officials do not like to be questioned, considering it an assault on their authority. Their understanding of the progressive measures / laws is poor and their worldview is limited to considering their own selves as supreme - investigator and jury roles merge in their perception. The training levels are poor and in certain situations, the pressures are extremely high. The response of the CPIO in this case is an indication of the ills which prevails.
Bhuvneshwari Kumari

Without formally recognizing the Taliban govt,India is engaging with an Afghan delegation led by its foreign minister. Paradoxical.It has also attracted the notice of the critics.However, there is a contrarian side to it.
Under compulsions of realpolitik, India is fully justified in using the talibans against Pakistan’s nefarious designs
TTP continued its attacks on Pakistan even while the Afghan foreign minister toured India.He also warned Pakistan from Indian soil.Pakistan and China are uneasy with the fast-changing geopolitical developments.
Only, the future will tell us whether India's stand had been in the right direction !The moot point is : Whether, the talibans, as Afghanistan’s ruling dispensation, would be India's long term strategic partner,especially when there are no permanent friends and permanent enemies in international politics.
A K Saxena (Former civil servant)

After several weeks of delivering trade shock after tariff bombardments, you have shown your Great sense of humour signing a WH photo with prime minister Narendra Modi in unctuous compliment “Mr Prime Minister you are great…”. Only you are capable of wrapping frighteningly serious matters in humour. I’m so amused to find another jewel from you in “highly respected President Xi ….”.Your critics might highlight your message in these words: “…he doesn’t want depression for his country, and neither do I. The US wants to help China, not hurt it!!! Critics of the Great are ever prompt to smear Great achievements, like the one you have done out of sheer jealousy, in bringing peace between Israel and Hamas! In the past too I had come across such infectious humour offering aid for reconstruction of a devastated country after carpet bombing for years. You’re always right, only if they tried to understand! Take the Nobel Prize for Peace as an example. Everyone seemed to think you have gone mad begging for a Nobel. You proved them so out of tune with your great Sense of Humour. I never thought even for a moment that you won’t know such a simple piece of wisdom. I knew you were exposing earlier recipients such as Barack Hussein Obama and Malala Yousafzai, who contributed nothing like what you have done for peace by enforcing the Gaza Peace Plan. Osama’s whereabouts were known to the American establishment for several years but still they spent several billions of the American tax payers’ money in hunting for him (was it 80:20 between A & P agents?). You don’t need no Noble as you are already known as the Great POTUS of MAGA. You knew it for certain that India did not stop firing because of your mediation, but who can deny that Pakistan indeed obeyed you and surrendered to India because you severely reprimanded them for the terrorist attack on innocent tourists in Pahalgam without your prior approval and humiliated them worse than Zelensky. As an act of atonement for being incalcitrant, they recommended you for the award of Nobel For Peace to get pardon from you, which you granted being Great, but not without wrapping it in humour: a first in world military history, you made a defeated Army Chief a Field Marshal of Pakistan! One thing I know, if the Gaza Peace really gets established you will be remembered as a Great POTUS when nobody will even care to find if you were keen on that piece of gold!
M L Gupta

The Appellant contended during telephonic hearing before CIC that he had sought the statements dated 13.09.2023 collected by the Delhi Police, but the same had been denied to him by the Police authorities under the pretext that it had been submitted before the Court. But the statements were not available even in the Court records. The Respondent agreed to search the said statements in their records and make the same available for the Appellant. The CIC directed the PIO, O/o ACP Kalyanpuri to grant inspection of the relevant records pertaining to the queries raised by the Appellant, specifically the statements recorded by the Delhi Police on 13.09.2023, on a mutually convenient date and time. The CIC directed that copies of documents identified by the Appellant shall be provided to him upon payment of fees as stipulated under the Act. The Respondent were given the liberty to deny records containing any information which is expressly barred under Section 8 or 9 of the RTI Act and also apply provisions of Section 10 of the RTI Act to redact any third party information if deemed necessary while disclosing the records as sought by the Appellant.
Comments
While replying to an application, the veracity of facts must be verified by the PIO. A vigilant PIO would have exercised due caution before informing the RTI applicant that the documents have been submitted to the Court which was subsequently found to be factually incorrect, saving an embarassment.
Citation: Shri Vikrant v. Delhi Police, Second Appeal No. CIC/DEPOL/A/2024/643049; Date of Decision: 21.08.2025
Dr Anuradha Verma (dranuradhaverma@yahoo.co.in) is a RTI Consultant currently working with IIM Vishakhapatnam. She has co-authored the books PIO’s Guide to RTI and Right to Information – Law and Practice. Her weekly article is being published since 2008 on this site. She offers consultancy on RTI matters and third party audit to individuals / organisations. Her other articles can be read at the website of RTI Foundation at the link https://www.rtifoundationofindia.com

In my humble opinion, before passing the IAS, if they have a stint in the real private corporate world, it would be an invaluable experience in goals and achievement oriented performance, since it's in the corporate world that accountability lessons are truly learnt as profit oriented companies teach how to envision goals .
Achala Prasad
Sabka sath aur sabka vishwas
How long will such destructive practices continue? Instead I would suggest having a selection committee chairperson from the BC group and out of the remaining, members should be promoted to gender-based with proportional population participation. This suggestion shall ensure sabka sath sabka vishwash aur sabka vishwas .
G Mukesh

The Snake Chasing Effect is a metaphorical term that describes a self-perpetuating or self-defeating cycle, where an individual continuously reacts to behavior emanating usually from outside, often worsening the original problem. Though not a formally recognized psychological term, the phrase is used in behavioral science, business and mental health contexts to describe patterns of reactive behavior that loop back onto themselves.
The parable of the snake chasing effect goes something like – once upon a time, a person was walking through the woods when he stumbled across a snake in the center of his path. The snake lashes out and bites him without warning, then turns and slithers away down the path. Obviously, the man feels the sharp pain of the bite and the venom coursing through his leg. Fortunately, he is close to the village, so if he had just walked back and got the wound treated, he would have been fine. But he felt the anger and resentment built inside him resultantly he questioned to himself “Why did the snake do that to me? That is not right. I am going to get revenge.” He started chasing the snake down the path, but as he pursued the snake, the venom took hold and he collapsed and died.
The story offers a powerful lesson, which you might call the ‘Snake Chasing Effect’. In life, you are going to get bitten by a snake every now and then. In society, we have so many dangerous, insipid people who are no less than a venomous snake. Someone betrays you. A so-called friend lets you down. A coworker takes credit for your work. You do not get rewarded for your work. The initial wound hurts – but it is survivable. If you take care of yourself, walk back to the village and treat the wound, you will be fine. Walking back to the village means just adopting the attitude of forgive and forget and leave the rest to one’s karma. But how often do you do the exact opposite? The internal voice starts a not so familiar outburst - How could they do this to me? I am going to take revenge and get back at them. Thus, you start chasing the snake down the path, seeking your revenge. You obsess over the betrayal, the unfairness and the injustice.
The real damage is not from the bite itself, but from your reaction to it. The real damage comes when you chase the snake. Nelson Mandela said it beautifully, “Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemy.” The Snake Chasing Effect is a reminder that the wisest response to harm is not retaliation or obsession, but restoration. Do not give the snake more power over you than it has. Focus on healing, not hurting. Tend to your wound, mend your garden and stay blessed forever.
The Snake Chasing Effect serves as a vivid reminder of how easily we can become trapped in our own responses, mistaking reaction for resolution. Whether in our minds, relationships or institutions, recognizing and stepping out of these loops is essential for real progress. By breaking the cycle, we allow ourselves to move forward, rather than just spinning in circles.
Subbiah Sridhar

Love-hate bond between England & India In human history, there seems to be no other example of a very strong love-hate bonding between the UK (England in short as it is addressed) and India. Love for the qualities of His Majesty’s servants, hate for the conduct against the perceived qualities of those servants, who took to barbarism. Great Britain not only lost the empire because of those servants of the Crown but a potential best friend in the world. It is time for the UK to critique its attitude to India since 1947, which was an unwise continuation of pre-1947 mentality. Should the UK not have been India’s friendliest trade partner in these more than 7 decades? The British had the most valuable information about India, an ancient, big, culturally rich and oldest knowledge society. The Americans never had that kind of knowledge on India. Most European countries had bits of information. All of them generally suffered coloured view of India and Indians. Their view, perception and even understanding was tainted by petty missionary campaigns and narrow-mindedness. Politically they were heavily wagered on communal divide in India. They encouraged partition of India, under the illusion that it would serve their national interests in future, believing that a small nation will be loyal to them forever or at least many decades. They ended up laying down the foundation of terrorism in the world, which has harmed the UK like none other, not even America, as its Prime Minister has been living a life of a protected witness in a crime after operation Iraq. Had they acknowledged the power of non-violence advocated by Mahatma Gandhi, the world would have been different today. Humanity today is threatened with an imminent atomic war any time! The UK has lost another valuable opportunity to mend ways by strengthening the Commonwealth apparatus. However, I am on another issue today. The UK is the repository of valuable information on India. If it corrects its attitude to India from an Empire-Colony framework to two Great Nations and Two Great Friends it can have the most beneficial Trade Agreement now. It is now or never! The UK Leadership must listen to Prime Minister Narendra Modi respectfully to evoke equal respect from Indians, who are bound by the strange kind of love-hate bonding I am discussing. If they err now, Indians are bound to give up on them. The reason is that Indo-UK relations are 90% intellectual and 10% trade etc. India-UK relations in this spirit can make the UK one of the most liked nations in the world, unlike the long list of hated ones.
M L Gupta