RTI applicant need not give full address

Times of India: Ahmedabad: Saturday, January 25, 2014.

If you are an RTI applicant and do not want to reveal your complete address to government officer accepting your application, you needn't disclose your full address. The department of personnel and training (DoPT) has issued instructions to all state information commissions in this regard. It may be noted that several complaints of applicants being harassed either by the third parties about whom information had been sought or by government officers themselves has come to light.

The January 8 office memorandum of the DoPT was received by the Gujarat state information commission recently. The office order clearly quotes a Kolkata high court judgement on a writ petition in which an RTI applicant Avishek Goenka had stated that he feared he would be harmed. Goenka had given only his post box address in the application but the West Bengal authorities had objected to this and demanded his complete contact details.

In the light of Kolkata high court's decision, the DoPT issued a notification to all state information commissions, including that of Gujarat. In the notification, DoPT director Sandeep Jain has interpreted section 6(2) of the RTI Act, and said: "We have considered the relevant provisions of the statute. Section 6(2) of the RTI Act clearly provides that an applicant making request for information shall not be required to give any reason for requesting information or any other personal details except those that may be necessary for contacting him."

Jain says that even if the applicant can be reached at a post box number, this should be accepted as valid contact information. However, if contacting the applicant via a post box number is difficult, then the authority may demand some more details. In such cases, the contact details of the applicant shall not be revealed in the orders posted on the information commission's website, says the DoPT notification.

"This is a relevant order and will help all applicants who feel that they may be harassed for seeking information," said member of Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pehel, Pankti Jog.