Deccan Herald: Bengaluru: Friday,
October 21, 2016.
In a bizarre
interpretation of law, the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) has denied
information about the controversial steel flyover, saying it is “private” and
“not in the public interest”.
A Right to
Information (RTI) Act activist Saidatta had sought details over the tender
notification for the proposed Basaveshwara Circle-Hebbal steel bridge, the
firms that took part in the tender process and the cost quoted by them.
In its
three-page reply on October 13, the BDA stated that the information sought did
not meet the definition of ‘information’ under the RTI Act.
The civic
agency stated that it cannot provide information as “the documents sought will
have to be created and the details come under the terms and conditions between
the BDA and private companies”.
The reply
also stated that the information sought was “personal” and its disclosure had
no relationship to any “public activity or public interest”.
Quoting
Section 8 (1) (j) of the Act, the BDA’s letter states that the information
sought was about a “third person” and that it may have to create certain
documents to provide information sought by the applicant.
The agency’s
information officer has cited the Central Information Commission’s order
stating, “As per Section 2 (j) of the Act, no public authority can create any
document.” Citing an order by the Tamil Nadu Information Commission, BDA said
information about any project in the initial stages may not be revealed. The
steel flyover project is still in its initial stages, it stated.
“Besides, the
information sought is bulky in nature and its disclosure would involve
disproportionately large diversion of resources. This also means the section
concerned will have to spend too much of time to elicit information,” the
letter stated.