Friday, July 14, 2017

RTI applicants must be given certified copies: Info panel

Times of India: Panaji: Friday, July 14, 2017.
A public information officer (PIO) must provide information in the form of certified copies if the RTI applicant has made such a request, the Goa state information commission has held.
The commission ordered the PIO of the South Goa planning and development authority, Margao, to issue duly certified copies of outline development plans (ODPs) under the Right to Information Act, 2005, and also furnish a list of alterations and minor changes in the plans to an RTI applicant.
Madonna Almeida asked for the outline development plans including certified copies of the ODP presently in force. The PIO informed her that the authority prepared two ODPs for Margao and Ponda and said they could be obtained on payment of Rs 2,000 per plan.
Almeida subsequently paid the total amount of Rs 4,000 for the plans. The PIO provided her with photocopies and raised objection to certifying the information furnished, stating that according to him, the RTI Act doesn't provide for all information to be certified.
The commission referred to Section 7(9) of the RTI Act, which states that information shall ordinarily be provided in the form in which it is sought unless it would disproportionately divert the resources of the public authority concerned or would be detrimental to the safety or preservation of the record in question.
Chief information commissioner Prashant Tendolkar held that such certification of records doesn't divert the resources nor affect the safety or preservation of records and doesn't cast any burden on the PIO as it neither warrants the authenticity of the originals nor veracity of its contents.
'In case the seeker seeks the information in the form of simple copies, they should be provided in the said form. In case his/her requirement is in the form of certified copies, the simple thing required from the PIO is certification of such copies indicating that they are from the records and that they are dispensed by him in discharge of his duties as a PIO,' the order stated.
The RTI Act states that information shall be provided in the form in which it is sought unless it would disproportionately divert the resources of the authority or be detrimental to the safety of the record in question.