Business Standard: Mumbai: Monday, June 04, 2018.
Even as we
witness an alarming trend where RTI replies by various government departments
are subsequently denied outright, a former Central Information Commissioner
(CIC) has underlined the fact that providing wrong information to any applicant
can invite a penalty and disciplinary action.
"Any
Information Officer who wilfully provides wrong or misleading information under
the Right to Information (RTI) Act to any application, can be penalised Rs
25,000 by the Commissioner, plus disciplinary action can be recommended against
him," former CIC Shailesh Gandhi.
However, the
ex-CIC said there may be cases in which the errors are genuine, without mala
fide intention, in which case the concerned department must immediately provide
an explanation for the lapse as well as the correct information.
Gandhi's
comments come at a time when RTI replies are subsequently denied outright --
with at least five such instances that have made news nationally in the recent
past.
Last
November, Western Railway informed activist Anil Galgali that the
Mumbai-Ahmedabad rail sector was running at 40 percent below capacity.
The news
caught national attention as this is the same route on which the Narendra Modi
government's prestigious Bullet Train project is planned, raising serious
question marks on its viability.
After a
furore over the RTI revelation, Indian Railways and Railway Minister Piyush
Goyal personally denied the information, and later claimed that the sector was
not only running at 100 per cent capacity but was also profitable.
"By such
tactics, fear is instilled among the Information Officers, who try to dodge RTI
queries, unsure whether the genuine information provided would be later denied
if it proves controversial," Galgali said.
In March
2018, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Eknath Khadse raised a stink
when he publicised RTI replies that said over 319,000 rats were killed within a
week in Mantralaya, the Maharashtra government headquarters.
Though the RTI
replies hinted at a scam, the government did a somersault to say that they were
"misinterpreted" by the former minister Khadse and actually referred
to the quantity of zinc phosphide (anti-rodent) tablets needed to eliminate the
rat population.
"The original
documents are available in the matter, how can the government deny it? It
clearly means they are trying to hide something. If they cannot accept their
own documents, then better scrap the RTI Act," Khadse said.
The same
month (March), Mumbai Congress President Sanjay Nirupam created a sensation
when he furnished RTI replies showing the Maharashtra Chief Minister's Office
guzzled nearly 18,600 cups of tea daily.
"Later,
the government completely reneged on its own RTI replies. This puts tremendous
psychological pressure on the poor Information Officer trying to do an honest
job. It seems the present BJP government at the Centre and states want to
completely destroy the RTI Act," Nirupam said.
In a very
recent instance, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) denied its own RTI
replies to activist Chandra Shekhar Gaur of Neemuch, Madhya Pradesh, pertaining
to huge arrears of over Rs 500 billion all over India and
"write-offs" of over Rs 3,002 crore, claiming these figures were
given "erroneously".
"For my
single line query, I was barraged with nearly 1,100 replies, right from
Principal Commissionerates to block-level officers. Most letters came from
registered Speed Post costing over Rs 50 each, meaning they have spent more
than Rs 50,000 of taxpayers' money," Gaur said.
He said that
his query seeking a consolidated national figure of the arrears and write-offs
online, via email, was tossed by the CBDT to all state and local offices,
"which is a sheer waste of resources and harassment of the RTI activist".
In an IANS
expose on indiscriminate purchase of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in
April, the Election Commission of India (ECI) contended that the information
was provided wrongly, but never came forth with a written explanation.
"I am
aware of how government departments try to trample RTI. So I took the
precaution of first filing a PIL (Public Interest Litigation) before the Bombay
High Court based on the RTI replies received so far. Now, the court will decide
whether the ECI's replies are true or not," said a grim RTI activist
Manoranjan S. Roy, who toiled on the EVMs issue for over a year.
On his part,
former CIC Gandhi said there are avenues like appeal or even the courts, but
"the tragedy is most commissioners and the courts are anti-RTI" and
the whole exercise can be very time-consuming.
"RTI is
in a regressionary stage, taken very casually by the government, the
Information Commissioners and the courts. It is up to the RTI activists and the
media to pursue it relentlessly, continue to name and shame the
authorities," Gandhi suggested.
A
Neemuch-based RTI activist, Jinendra Surana, realised the futility of appeals
the hard way. "An appeal of mine is pending with the CBDT since over three
years... They kick it from one department to another and nobody bothers to
dispose it off."
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