State ordered to give list of babus' assets

Deccan Chronicle; November 16th, 2010

Hyderabad: In a landmark decision the AP Information Commission on Monday brushed aside the state government’s objections and asked it to furnish details of immovable properties held by All-India Service officials in the state to a city-based RTI activist.

The commission, headed by the Chief Information Commissioner, Mr Jannath Hussain, was delivering an order on an appeal filed by the RTI activist, Mr O.M. Debara. The commission, for the first time, met twice before deciding on the application.

The order means that Mr Debara will get, for a fee, a copy of the list of assets that is filed annually by All-India Service officers. “I compliment the AP Information Commission for their wise judgement,” said Mr Debara. “I have been fighting to eliminate corruption from society and wanted to expose misdeeds by officials.”

There are generally no restrictions on legal use of this information. The order of the Information Commission is considered final, though appeals can be filed with the AP High Court and, later, the Supreme Court.

The government had contended that providing the information does not serve public purpose and requires third party approval. But the commission considered a number of similar cases, including a judgement of the Karnataka High Court and rulings of the Central Information Commission.

The commission opined that with a view to maintaining the transparency not only in the administration but also in public life, there is nothing wrong if the details of assets/properties are furnished to the petitioner.

“When such details are provided as a mandatory rule to Income-Tax authorities and to the heads of departments by the same officials, the contention of the government in rejecting the plea for sharing similar information is not acceptable,” the commission noted.

Mr Debara, a retired engineer and secretary for the Forum for Better Hyderabad, an NGO, had sought the information under the RTI on September 29, 2008, from the principal information officer of the general administration department.