‘Challenge Madras court’s RTI order in SC’

Mumbai Mirror: Mumbai: Tuesday, 23 September 2014.

Activists say ruling ignores key section of ground-breaking law and infringes on constitutional rights.

Several Right to Information (RTI) experts have criticised a recent decision of the Madras High Court, which passed an order stating that applicants must cite reasons while seeking information under the RTI Act. The experts have said the order goes against the spirit of the ground-breaking Act and infringes on a citizen's constitutional rights.

RTI activist Krishnaraj Rao added that the Madras court's order should be challenged in the Supreme Court. He said it ignores Section 6(2) of the RTI Act, which specifies that an information seeker shall not be required to give reasons.

A Madras High Court division bench, comprising Justice N Paul Vasanthakumar and Justice K Ravichandrababu, while hearing a petition, recently stated that an applicant must disclose the reason for which information is being sought and also satisfy the condition that such a reason has legal backing. The applicant in the case had sought file notings on a complaint against a chief metropolitan magistrate.

"If informations are to be furnished to a person, who does not have any reason or object behind seeking such informations, in our considered view, the intention of the legislature is not to the effect that such informations are to be given like pamphlets to any person unmindful of the object behind seeking such information," the bench had said.

Shailesh Gandhi, former Chief Information Commissioner and prominent RTI activist, said the Madras High Court's order infringes on a person's constitutional rights. "RTI stems from Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution, which deals with freedom of expression. By this logic, the court would want a citizen to give reasons for speaking or writing. The order goes against the spirit of the RTI Act and the constitutional guarantee of freedom of expression," he said.

He added that the order is not applicable across the country and will not stand legal scrutiny. It can only be cited as a precedent if someone wants to invoke it in other parts of the country. "Maybe the court, while passing the order, did not realise that the RTI Act itself clearly states that no reasons need to be given while seeking information," he said.

Rao questioned the Madras High Court order. "It's a questionable judgment, because it completely ignores Section 6(2), a key section of the RTI Act, which explicitly states that an information seeker shall not be required to give reasons or, indeed, disclose any personal details. The Madras HC judgment has not struck down this section, or even addressed it. The judgment should be challenged in the Supreme Court."