HC dismisses petitions on RTI

Business Standard: Chennai: Friday, 11 July 2014.

Stating that seeking sundry information unrelated to transparency and accountability in the functioning of public authorities and eradication of corrupition would be counter-productive, the Madras High Court bench here today dismissed writ petitions seeking information about estates in Dindigul and Theni districts.

Justice S Nagamuthu, dismissing petitions filed by one A Kanakaraj said "making indiscriminate and impractical demands under RTI will adversely affect the efficiency of the administration and result in the executive getting bogged down with the non-productive work of collecting and furnishing information".

"The act should not be allowed tobe misused and abused" the Judge said.

If the official machinery was directed to collect those information and to furnish it to the petitioner, certainly "It will have adverse effect on the regular administration of the public office. Therefore the State Information Commissioner was right in rejecting the request of the petitioner", the court said.

The petitioner without specifying the particular record, had asked for information relating to registers maintained under the Estate Land Act, 1908, estate abolition and conversion into Ryotwar act 1948, names and other details of the estate holders.

The State information officer informed the petitioner that he should not excessively ask for information as it would affect the regular function and rejected his request.

At a cost of Rs 10 information relating to several decades running to several pages were sought. Even if the officer asked the person to pay Rs five lakh for collecting the details and giving them the entire office machinery should be focussed only in preparing copies of documents, leaving behind the regular work" the judge said, dismissing the petition.