Indian Express : Partha Sarathy Biswas : Wednesday, May 22, 2013.
Other than second appeals filed under Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005, complaints by users under Section 18 of the Act are piling up at the Pune bench of the State Information Commissioner (SIC). The main reason, RTI activists point out, is SIC, Pune, M H Shah deciding to not hold hearings.
File inspections at the office of the SIC show that 139 complaints have been pending since January 1, 2012.
In 2012, the Pune SIC received 148 complaints and 59 of them were heard and resolved. This year, there have been 50 complaints so far and not a single complaint has been heard.
Section 18 of the RTI deals with complaints and the manner in which Information Commissioners are supposed to deal with them.
The Act specifies that people whose RTI applications have not been accepted, who have not been allowed access to information, who have been asked to pay fee which they think is unreasonable or who have been given incomplete information, can file complaints with the SIC.
The Act vests Information Commissioners with powers of a civil court to deal with complaints and decide cases, and this includes the power to summon witnesses and receive evidence on affidavit.
The majority of information commissioners hold hearings by summoning both parties before giving their decision. However, in Pune, such hearings have not been held since last year.
Shah, when contacted, cited a Supreme Court judgment of 2011 for not holding hearings for complaints. He said the law does not talk specifically about holding hearings and thus he does not hold hearings. "The judgment says complaints under Section 18 cannot be treated as a subterfuge for second appeals and thus people should file applications and second appeals under the Act," he said.
State Chief Information Commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad, who holds regular hearings for complaints filed under section 18, strongly recommends such hearings. "Section 18 vests information commissioners with powers of a civil court and that includes conducting hearings. The Supreme Court judgment has ensured that the process of first and second appeal is not superseded. We have worked out four divisions for dealing with complaints and in cases that do not come under section 18, we have asked applicants to file RTI applications and follow the process," he said.
Activists Vijay Kumbhar stated that regular hearings under section 18 are a necessity as this section gives enormous powers to information commissioners. "Holding hearings is an intrinsic part of the Act and information commissioners across the country are doing it," he said..
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