Hindustan Times: New
Delhi: Friday, May 17, 2013.
The right to
information (RTI) law can be used to sue the government for inadequate service
if it can be proved in a consumer court that the delay in providing information
caused loss.
This was the
view of three different consumer courts who awarded compensation to right to
information users for delay saying that the applicants were consumers of the
government since they paid a fee and furnishing information within 30 days was,
therefore, a service.
A district
consumer forum in Tamil Nadu awarded Rs. 5,000 compensation to N Arasakumaram,
who had filed an right to information application relating to answers in a test
for recruiting teachers, a delayed response to which cost him a government job.
In second
case, a Chennai consumer forum held the public information officer of Tamil
Nadu State Information Commission liable for “deficiency of service” for
failing to provide information. He was asked to pay a compensation of Rs. 5,000
to right to information applicant B Ramesh.
The third
case is from Pune consumer forum which asked the Maharashtra Directorate of
Technical Education to pay compensation of Rs. 10,000 to right to information
applicant KR Kakade for delay in providing information. Kakade had sought
information regarding his employment with the institute but failed to get any
response.
Such consumer
court orders may open a Pandora’s box as any unsatisfied RTI applicant can now
file petitions against public information officers and seek compensation.
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