Hindustan
Times: New Delhi: Monday, October 15, 2012.
Information
Commissioner Deepak Sandhu has been the government’s spokesperson and is one of
the most senior commissioners in the Central Information Commission. Sandhu
spoke to HT on impact of recent Supreme Court order and the new Right To
Information rules. Excerpts of an interview:
The SC had
issued a detailed order on functioning of the information commissions, which
would have wide ranging implications. How do you view the court’s order?
As far as the
Supreme Court order is concerned, the government has already filed a review
petition. I would not like to comment on any aspect of the court ruling. But, I
would like to say that the court’s order should not adversely impact the
simplicity of the Right To Information Act. A person can seek information from
the government on a piece of plain paper. The right of the people to directly
approach government authorities or file second appeal easily should not be
lost. An RTI applicant has a right to appear in the second appeal before the
commission. This right shouldn’t be taken away or the information commission
would become like other courts where a common man fears to go. We should guard
this right of the people.
The
government has brought out new RTI rules and many fear that the rules are an
attempt to curb people’s right to information. How do you analyse the new
rules?
The biggest
concern is regarding the limit of 500 words in an RTI application. I want to
say that the rules say that an application cannot be rejected on the ground of
its word length. I feel that the rule will help the Public Information Officers
to provide information in a much better way. It will also help the applications
to focus on what he wants to ask. Some people file lengthy RTI applications and
it results in burden on government resources. I think the rules will help the
government to use its resources to provide information in more efficient
manner.
There was
also concern raised that the new rules says an RTI appellant will have to
appear in person and cannot authorise anyone else to appear on his behalf. Any
clarifications.
There is no
ambiguity on whether the appellant can come himself or can authorise anyone
else. The rules says that there would be no change in the existing system for
the applicants.
How do you
visualise performance of the CIC?
After three
years in the CIC, I believe we have done really well. People can come and see
how hearings are taking place. We have 18,000 pending cases. Three years ago,
the average time to hear the case was one year. We have brought it down to
seven to eight months and by December we would reduce it to six months. To
improve voluntary disclosure under the RTI Act, I have given two months to
public authorities to comply with section 4 of the Act. I will be holding a
meeting in December with public authorities to check the status. Anybody can
come and give suggestions on how to improve section 4 compliance.
.JPG)
.JPG)
