RTI activist has 238 appeals pending

Times of India: Chennai: Thursday, 27 August 2015.

He has filed more than 200 appeals after his RTI queries remained unanswered. But almost all the appeals are pending for the past three years. At one point, an information commissioner also questioned the motive behind his persistence. But the indifference of the information commission has only hardened the resolve of this senior citizen to seek the truth.

M Thuyamurthy, 66, may probably have the maximum number of pending RTI appeals, 238 to be precise, before the commission. "I was shocked when recently information commissioner Christopher Nelson asked me during an appeal hearing why I was filing too many RTIs. They should first answer why they are not enforcing Section 4 of the RTI Act, which mandates proactive disclosure of information on the websites of government departments," said Thuyamurthy as he showed copies of the appeals.

When contacted, Nelson declined to comment on the matter.

Thuyamurthy said Tamil Nadu Information Commission (TNSIC) has not taken any action against public information officers (PIOs) for delaying or denying information to the applicants under the RTI Act. "Government departments are reluctant to disclose sufficient information on their websites even 10 years after the implementation of the Act. There is no need to file RTIs if sufficient information is available on the websites of the respective departments," he said. "A majority of the PIOs are giving incomplete or no replies to RTI applicants even after a first appeal. The information would be irrelevant if it is kept pending for several years," said Thuyamurthy, who has filed several RTI applications on building violations, illegal eateries, discrepancies in property and professional tax.

The activist said most government departments have not displayed the boards with the names, designations, addresses, contact numbers of PIOs and the First Appellate Authority on the premises in violation of RTI rules. "Even TNSIC's website has not disclosed the annual reports since 2008 and the total numbers of appeals and complaints pending before the commission. How will they enforce the RTI Act in other departments," he asked.

A TNSIC official said some applicants are filing unnecessary questions under RTI Act. "The RTI Act should not be misused to interfere with routine work of government officials," he said.