Firstpost: New Delhi: Wednesday,
April 05, 2017.
The NDA
government has proposed a new set of rules for processing Right to Information
(RTI) applications, complaints and appeals and has sought suggestions from the
public by 15 April. The proposed rules, aimed at replacing RTI rules of 2012,
have been placed by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) on its
website for comments from public.
Among many
provisions, one says that the proceedings before the Central Information
Commission (CIC) will abate in case of death of the appellant. In the Draft RTI
Rules 2017, on which comments have been invited from the public, Clause 2 of
Rule 12 titled Withdrawal/Abatement of Appeal says: "The proceedings
pending before the commission shall abate on the death of the appellant,"
PTI reported.
The new draft
rules also allow the commission to use its discretion for allowing withdrawal
of appeal or a complaint if appellant requests but such requests cannot be
entertained once the matter has been decided by it. Some RTI activists have
objected to such suggestions by the government in the past saying information
seekers may be coerced by people with vested interests and may even be killed
as the information against them cannot be ordered to be disclosed in such
cases.
Speaking to
The Indian Express, RTI activist Subhash Agrawal said, "There have been
past pronouncements by the CIC and other bodies that in case of death of an
appellant, the information would be displayed on the website. This new clause
effectively puts an end to that. So killing an RTI activist would be a sure way
of killing his fight for a particular query."
Speaking to
Firstpost, lawyer Ajay Kumar said that instead of a blanket rule on the
abatement of proceedings, it would have made sense if the government had
created a test or evolved a criterion laying out the circumstances under which
certain applications could continue to be prosecuted. "A blanket rule on
on the abatement of proceedings is arbitrary and will only serve the interest
of the party that seeks to gain from the non-disclosure of information rather
than the broader public interest."
Another RTI
activist Commodore Lokesh Batra (retd) told PTI that there have been several
deliberations have been held earlier between the government and civil society
activists. "The time given is too less. There is no official press release
in this regard as well. How will people know that something like is placed on
website for them to give opinion," Batra was quoted as saying by PTI.
The BJP-led
NDA government has been criticised severly for the move with the Congress
alleging that the Narendra Modi government is subverting the RTI Act. The
Congress added that the new draft rules give power to an authority to reject an
application if it is beyond 500 words and also force a steep hike in charges on
the applicant to get a reply. Party spokesperson Manish Tewari told reporters
on Monday that the Centre has been displaying an attitude of "active
neglect towards RTI" and it finally seems to have decided "to
formalise the process of subverting the RTI".
"The
entire RTI regimen is sought to be constricted, suffocated and finally
subverted," he said.
Citing the
abatement of proceedings if the applicant dies, Tewari said: "RTI activists
are extremely apprehensive that this will increase the number of attacks which
are taking place and which have resulted in the unfortunate death of many RTI
activists." He said there is also a provision which allows the public
authority of the first appellate to file counter appeals which essentially
means that it becomes a judicial proceeding.
According to
Delhi-based NGO Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), last year the
countrywide death toll of RTI activists on account of murder or other
suspicious causes was 56 between 2005, when the transparency law came into
effect, and mid 2016. Of the 56 deaths, 51 activists were murdered and five
committed suicide.
CHRI
Venkatesh Nayak told The Times of India, "By legally permitting withdrawal
of appeals vested interests will feel emboldened to pressurise RTI users to
withdraw their appeals before the CIC. If this proposed rule becomes law at the
Centre, most other states will make similar amendments, thereby unwittingly
jeopardising the life and safety of RTI users. These amendments must not be
allowed to go through when the Whistleblower Protection Act, 2011 has been put
in cold storage."
Speaking to
The Economic Times, Anjali Bhardwaj National Campaign for People's Right to
Information said, "This is a rule which would be misused. In any case if
an RTI user is attacked and killed, the Commission should not stop its work. We
have repeatedly said in such cases the sought information should be proactively
disclosed. RTI is being used by people who are on the margins. Any requirement
by the Commission should keep these people the poor in mind. The formats
prescribed are very intricate."
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