Kashmir Times: Srinagar: Wednesday,
April 02, 2014.
The High
Court has issued notice to the state government, state’s Chief Information
Commissioner besides the Jammu and Kashmir Bank asking them to file response to
a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking implementation of proactive
disclosures under Right to Information Act.
The PIL which
was filed by advocate Mohammad Ashraf Wani was listed by the Chief Justice
before a division bench comprising of Justice Hasnain Masoodi and Justice D S
Thakur has said that there will be no need to submit a written application or
pay application fees, if the Section 4 of the RTI Act is implemented in letter
and spirit.
The
petitioner has informed the court that despite many representation and
communication made by the state information commission (SIC) this section has
not been implemented. The petitioner has further sought direction to Registrar
General of the High court to take such steps to make the daily orders and
judgments available on the official website of the High court so that orders
are easily accessible to people and people associated with judiciary.
The PIL has
invited a high court direction to Jammu and Kashmir Bank to designate Public
Information Officer (PIO) and furnish information.
In order to
curb the menace of corruption in the state of J&K and to bring transparency
and accountability in the system, the state legislature promulgated, The Jammu
and Kashmir Right to Information Act, 2009.
According to
the petitioner under Section 4 of the Act (supra) (considered the sole of the
Act) , it was obligatory upon the every department to disclose information
voluntarily within a period of 120 days from the enforcement of the Act
(supra), March 20, 2009, the information shall be furnished by every Government
department, semi Government organization, public sector bank with more than 50
per cent government share, board or a corporation should proactively or
voluntarily give you the following information.
“The
information must be digitized and put on the website of the department. name,
designation, powers, duties, responsibilities and salaries of all the officers
working in that particular organization., the decision making procedure in all
matters and the norms set for taking action on any matter, details of all rules
, regulations, instructions, manuals and guidelines used by officers in their
work,” the petitioner has said.
The PIL reads
that a list of all categories of records available in their offices, the
proposed budget, allocation of funds and reports about their distribution. The
manner of implementation of subsidy schemes, list of beneficiaries and amount
of funds sanctioned to them, details of recipients of any permit, authorization
or concession issued, name and designation of Public Information Officers
(PIO), Assistant PIO and 1st Appellate Authority. “All this information should
be available with the PIO.”
The court has
asked the respondents to file their responses within three weeks, advocate Wani
said, adding that the matter will be listed after three weeks for next hearing.
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