The
New Indian Express: Bengaluru: Monday, 31 August 2015.
Ever since
the modus operandi of the accused in the alleged extortion scam in the
Lokayukta institution came to light, Lokayukta officials are being cautious in
dealing with Right to Information Act (RTI) applications. This is because the
accused in the case had allegedly used information obtained under RTI to extort
money from public servants.
The Lokayukta
registry has stopped providing information to persons who are not directly
connected with any case. If the applicant wants, he/she should apply directly
to the enquiry officer concerned of the anti-corruption body for any
information.
The Public
Information Officer and Deputy Registrar (Administration) had refused
information to J Ashok Kumar, a resident of Nagashettyhalli on August 10. On
July 31, Kumar had sought information about the ongoing investigation into
alleged misappropriation of funds by senior IAS officer Amita Prasad when she
was Director General of the Administrative Training Institute (ATI) in Mysuru.
In his
endorsement, which is available with the Express, the PIO informed Ashok Kumar
that the information he had sought was related to the case. Since the applicant
was neither a complainant nor a respondent in the case, his application was not
considered under provisions of RTI Act.
While
disposing of the application, the PIO clarified that the information which he
had sought was being dealt by Additional Registrar of Enquiries-9, Lokayukta.
The proceedings of the section is quasi-judicial in nature and come under
Indian Evidence Act and Civil Procedure Code. Hence, the applicant was asked to
apply for copies of the case with that section.
To a question
on whether such a move would defeat the very spirit of the Act, a Lokayukta
official told Express that there is provision under Section 8 of the RTI Act to
follow the said procedure. As per Section 8 of Sub-section (h), disclosure of
information which would impede the process of investigation can be exempted
from being given out, he added. The officer added that there are chances of the
accused destroying evidence by obtaining information in the names of different
persons or to blackmail the officers, as observed in the Lokayukta scam.
“Therefore,
we will not provide information to the applicant if he is neither a complainant
nor a respondent. Even the enquiry officers concerned will not reveal the case
details to applicants if the reasons quoted in their applications are not
satisfactory,” he added.
When
contacted, in-charge Registrar M S Balakrishna said the Lokayukta institution
was dealing with RTI applications more carefully as a few people are learnt to
have applied for information ‘habitually’ under RTI Act. Three people were
found to be obtaining information repeatedly, he said.