Times
of India: Mumbai: Thursday, 26 September 2013.
In a first
case of its kind, Aurangabad information commissioner D B Deshpande has
dismissed an appeal filed by a college clerk, stating that 48 applications
filed by him were against the spirit of the Right to Information Act, 2005.
In a
seven-page order, Deshpande observed that the clerk has submitted a record 48
applications under the RTI Act and sought information from his own department
and files, which were either pertaining to him or he had dealt with them.
"On his
applications, the college information officer had given him the entire
information ...and that too free of cost, but he never accepted it and instead
filed an appeal before the commission. He has sought information about his own
institution and department, in my opinion, the applications filed by him were
against the spirit of the Right to Information Act," Deshpande said. From
Deshpande's order, it was found that the clerk had submitted 48 applications to
secure information on delay in his promotion, the principal's remarks on his
file, directives received from the university on disciplinary proceedings,
minutes of the management council's meeting and other issues. The information
officer deposed before the commission that the clerk had submitted several
applications with an intention to harass the college management. While the
entire information was provided to him, but he never accepted it, the officer
added. "It is abuse of the Right to Information Act. Most of the
information sought by him was of a personal nature and many of the files have been
dealt by him," the information officer said. Deshpande felt that it was
wrong on the part of an applicant to secure information under the RTI Act of a
department, where the employee was working and fully aware of the present
status of the information sought by him. "The employee knows whether the
information is available or destroyed. Under the RTI Act, every citizen...,
including a government has a right to secure information. But at the same time,
government employees must realize that their services are governed by the
Maharashtra civil service rules. Under such circumstances, government employees
must ensure that while securing information, there was no adverse impact on the
routine work in the department," he said.
Deshpande has
recommended to the chief secretary to prescribe stringent guidelines for the
government employees while securing information under the RTI Act, particularly
from the government departments.
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