NDA:
New Delhi: Wednesday, October 17, 2012.
Dr Manmohan
Singh rarely speaks his mind and when he speaks, people listen, as claimed by
US president Barack Obama. But this time, a rather reserved-in-speech prime
minister is at the receiving end for speaking his mind on the Right to
Information (RTI) Act from various quarters. At a recent Convention of Central
Information Commissioners, Singh cautioned against frivolous and vexatious use
of the RTI.
While the debate
on the uses and abuses of the RTI is unfolding, a Zee Research Group (ZRG)
insight shows that more RTI queries are being rejected under sections to
protect individual privacy and third-party information. The research, if
anything, points to the trend of the RTI blurring the lines between what
constitutes personal and private thereby suggesting that the prime minister
isn’t off the mark.
A ZRG study
of the annual data filed by ministries and departments during 2011-12 reveals
that 8.9 per cent of the all RTI applications were rejected. Among 33190
rejected requests, maximum 8817 faced Section 8 (1) j followed by 5150 under
Section 8 (1) d and 3369 under Section 8 (1) e of the RTI Act.
The RTI Act,
2005 Section 8 (1) j states that, “information which relates to personal
information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity
or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the
individual”.
Similarly,
under the RTI Act, Section 8 (1) d exempts any information which would harm the
competitive position of a third party. Section 8 (1) e of the Act exempts from
disclosing the information available to a person in his fiduciary relationship.
During the
same period, a total of 3330 application were also rejected invoking Section 24
of the Act. As per the Act, Section 24 comprises intelligence and security
agencies.
Figures might
back Prime Minister (PM) statement but experts don’t share Singh’s concerns.
RTI activist
Subhash Aggarwal believes rejection of RTI doesn’t bog down the applicants as
CIC is available to give them justice. “As per the Act, any Central Public
Information Officer (CPIO) can reject information but ultimately we have
information commissions to get answers to our questions. I have witnessed many
high profile cases where initially CPIO rejected the information, but I got the
information in the end after CIC intervened,” said Aggarwal.
Further,
Aggarwal says that if the government is planning to review the RTI applications
by CPIO’s then it will put more pressure on public resources and undercut the
civil society efforts to impart greater transparency in governance.
Former chief
information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi too detests any idea of tampering with
the existing Act. He says, “The prime minister's statement signals that he
wants to amend the Act to make it friendlier for the authorities. However, I
don’t think any such step is required but if it is taken then people should
protest”.
Gandhi has
found nothing new in PM’s statement as this has also been said by the Supreme
Court earlier. “The only new thing in PM statement was that
Public-Private-Partnerships (PPP) has to be out of the RTI Act, which is
ridiculous” he avers.
Authorities
have often complained of some applicants using personal information to serve
political purposes. But is that really the case?
Even if this
is happening, Gandhi doesn’t think government should worry. “As per the RTI
Act, every citizen is entitled to question the government functionary and no
one can deny them from their right. Government should not worry even if some
people want to use RTI for their political agenda.”
Aggarwal endorses
Gandhi’s point. “Some people try to misuse every law by setting their personal
agenda into it. But this doesn’t mean we should dilute the Act. Any further
amendment in the RTI Act will remove the soul from the body,” he explains.
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