Times of India: Nagpur: Sunday, March 17, 2013.
There are
numerous instances of Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, being misused. Even
the State Information Commission (SIC) was aware of the fact, but currently,
there is no provision to keep a tab on it. According to State Information
Commissioner in Nagpur Bhaskar Patil, who has vast experience in dealing with
the cases under RTI Act, the information sought was sometimes misused for
alleged blackmailing. "However, providing information can't be stopped as
there is no provision of asking for a motive or reason to be asked to the RTI
applicants," he told TOI.
Patil, who
has over three decades of experience as a lawyer, including 15 years as a
government pleader at Nagpur bench of Bombay high court, added that many a time
the information sought, infringed the right of privacy of individuals.
"Still there are many loopholes in the procedure which need to be plugged
so that there shouldn't be any misuse or abuse of the Act by vested
interests," he said.
Strongly
advocating for scrutiny of RTI applications, he informed that even the Supreme
Court in KB Bandopadhyay case had mentioned this issue for the first time.
"There are instances where RTI information was sought on the same subject
pertaining to particular ration card shop as many as 10 times. It clearly
indicates that something is fishy. Even information of hotel owners was
demanded. There is definitely third party interest involved in such
applications. But providing information can't be denied as activists are smart
enough to turn it into a public cause. In hotel owners' case, they may say that
they want to check any violations in obtaining hotel licenses," he said.
Citing more
examples, Patil, who had an impressive stint as information commissioner in
Amravati division, stated that he was witness to an RTI application seeking
information of a person's income tax returns, and also about names and age of
children from a particular school. "In both cases, the applicants had
managed to show public interest and therefore, there are both sides of a coin
when RTI application is received," he said.
He further
said that even the central government had tried to make amendments in the RTI
Act when the complaints of its misuse were received. Even the prime minister
had called for the same during a meeting in the capital, but RTI activists
strongly opposed this move affirming that Act shouldn't be changed under any
circumstances," he said.
Pointing out
another deficiency in the Act, Patil stated that if the authority failed to
provide information to the applicant, he can move to first appellate authority
and second subsequently. "The second authority - state information commissioner
- can only levy fine on the information officers, but can't force them to
provide information to the applicant. Of course, the applicants can then knock
judiciary's doors as the last resort," he said.
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